Daily Republic · Custer, SD
Retired South Dakota FFA adviser searches for jackets from every chapter
KIMBALL, S.D. — For 42 years, Terry Rieckman helped students earn the blue corduroy jacket that has become one of the most recognizable symbols of agricultural education. As an agriculture teacher and FFA adviser at McCook Central, Rieckman helped students develop leadership skills, learn about agriculture and become part of an organization that connects generations of rural communities. But he never experienced one thing as a student himself: owning an FFA jacket. Growing up in Custer, Rieckman couldn't join FFA because his high school didn't have a chapter. He didn't discover agricultural education as a career path until his final year at South Dakota State University, when his wife helped steer him toward teaching. During his first few years in the classroom, Rieckman said he was learning alongside his students. Now retired, Rieckman is preserving the history of an organization he devoted much of his career to.