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Wallace teaching life's lessons

Doug Flanagan/Post-Register
Feb. 18, 2010

Mike Wallace has been the Quincy FFA advisor since 1994.

Mike Wallace’s classroom at Quincy High School is a testimony to the strong relationships he’s been able to build over the years with his students.

Hanging from the ceiling are blue cloth banners that his FFA students have collected from various competitions. On the back wall sits a cork board filled photos that students have given Wallace. The photos — mostly senior pictures — are usually inscribed with a message from the student thanking Wallace for all he had done for the student during his or her time at the school.

Wallace has been able to forge solid bonds with his FFA students, in particular, because they share common interests and are around each other for a significant portion of each school day between classroom and club activities.

As Quincy’s FFA advisor, Wallace compares himself to a coach of a sports team. Sometimes he has to know when to prod kids to get more out of them, and other times he has to know when to simply let them go and do their thing.

“The most rewarding thing for me is to watch kids (perform) who want to do it,” he said. “Sometimes kids will come to practice at 6 p.m., 7 a.m. They’re excited. They want to get stuff done. I’m competitive, so I love it when our kids win one of those flags. It’s a good experience for them and good motivation. (Winning) feeds off itself.”

Of course, part of being a coach, or an FFA advisor, is developing certain characteristics within each student to help facilitate their advancements. One of those traits is leadership.

“They have to use what they’ve been taught to achieve a goal,” he said. “I tell the kids to look at an egg. The good thing about an egg is what’s inside. To get the good stuff to come out, you either crack the egg or throw it against a wall. That’s how you get the potential out, the leader out. At first, you give them the answers and help them, but then it’s like Jenga. You start to pull away some things here and there until they stand on their own and hopefully remember what they’ve been taught.”

His words rarely miss their mark. Allie Kiehn, a senior at QHS and FFA club president, recalled an experience with Wallace two summers ago that left an indelible mark on her.

“I spent most every morning for a month or so at his house working with my 2-year-old filly, beginning to train under saddle with the wisdom of Mr. Wallace,” she said.

“He encouraged me, guiding me along the way, but having me do it myself while he watched our progress. He offered many words of advice, but two quotes I won’t forget are ‘reward the slightest try’ and ‘repetition is the best teacher, but variety is the spice of life.’ Through his help with training my filly, he taught me that you can’t expect perfection right away; you must reward and appreciate every small attempt. If you do something over and over, you’ll be great at it, but become bored. You need to throw something different into the mix, keep it interesting.

“I’ll never forget all the help he gave me or the lessons I’ve learned from him. I’m always looking forward to his advice and views.”

Wallace has been Quincy’s FFA advisor since 1994. He and his wife, Kelly, have four young boys.

When Wallace first came to Quincy, his FFA club included 12 members. It started growing from there to a peak total of 124 kids one year. This year, Wallace has 58 students.

“Taking it all the way back, Kelly and I are glad to be here in Quincy. The people in this community are awesome, and the kids have been great,” he said. “Every two or three years, a pod of kids comes through that is a little different or more competitive, and this group I have now is that way. They have the attitude of, ‘Let’s go get it done.’ That fires me up.”

Kiehn said Wallace has taught her a lot of lessons in and out of the classroom.

“Mr. Wallace is someone I really look up to,” Kiehn said. “He’s really dedicated to the club and to teaching agriculuture. If someone wants to learn something, he’ll try his best to see that it’s done."