John Westerman remembers the first day as a freshman in one of Bob Parsons classes, way back in 1971.
"I walked in, looked at some of my friends, tripped over the electric cord for the overhead projector, knocked it over and broke the overhead glass," Westerman said.
Westerman figured he was going to get quite a "chewing," but he didn't.
Instead, Parsons rolled his eyes and didn't let that first impression prevent him from helping Westerman over the next four years.
"Even when I would get a little disappointed in some students, I could always remind myself that these are good kids, they deserve a second or third chance," Parsons said. "I have always thought that the best students in the school walk into this (Vo-Ag) vo-ag building."
Parsons has held that philosophy through 40 years of teaching and being an FFA advisor, all at Salem High School.
Westerman, one of thousands of students Parsons taught, said Parsons has a well deserved reputation for working with students before, during and after school to grasp all the knowledge they could, while at the same time improving a person's life and preparing him or her for the real world.
"I've never heard anyone say anything bad about him," said Heather Johnson, a former student and a now a co-teacher and FFA Advisor. "He's such a gentleman."
Parson's wife certainly agrees. Meredith says Bob was one of three sons born on the Triple R Farms -- Robert, Ronald and Randy.
"I tell him I got the best one," she said.
While Meredith may have the best of three brothers, current and former SHS students like to think they've had the best teacher.
"He was good at giving students second and third chances," Westerman said. "He would go out of his way for students, encourage them and support them. I credit what I learned in FFA as far as public speaking, budgets, and how to support myself as far as making me what I am today."
Westerman is the Newburg Schools Superintendent. He was also a superintendent at Green Forest R-II School and at Lonedell.
Parsons, who signed a contract to teach in Salem after his first interview with Superintendent Irvin Johnson, said he's had chances to move.
"I have interviewed at two other schools and was asked to take a job at another school without an interview," Parsons said.
But, he turned them down because he believed it was not the right thing to do.
Today, Parsons and his wife still live in the first house they moved into.
"I didn't expect to make it here four decades," Parsons said. "I originally thought I would be here one to five years. We've stayed and we've enjoyed it."
Over those years, students and teachers, past and present, describe Parsons as putting his students at the top of his priority list. Those students have given Parsons the best memories of his 40 years of teaching, he says.
Nearly 20 former students have become teachers, including six who are or have been agriculture instructors. Three have become Missouri State FFA officers, 127 have earned the state FFA degree and 35 have earned the American FFA degree, the highest degree an FFA member can earn.
"I think we've got some of the best students around, and they're all good kids who want to learn," Parsons said. "It's easier for me to help those who help themselves and push them to do better."
At least 175 children of former students have entered the Ag Education Program and joined FFA.
Craig Tatom, now a nurse practitioner with SMDH Family Medicine, remembers the chapter hosting a square dance. The problem was few FFA members knew how to square dance.
"He went out and got a caller, and they taught us how to square dance," Tatom said.
Bobby Simpson is a former Dent County commissioner, cattle farmer and a vocal member of several public land rights committees. He got his start in FFA.
"Believe it or not I was once a shy little boy," Simpson said. "But Mr. Parsons influenced my leadership abilities, and I gained a lot of my abilities to speak in public, how to conduct myself, how to hold meetings and how to work with others through my FFA experience. He is as good as they come."
Other former students include:
• Steve Watkins, an engineering professor at the Missouri University of Science and Technology,
• Kent Schescke, who works for the National FFA organization in Washington D.C.,
• Richard Norris, a Professor of Biotechnology at St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley,
• Tom Strain, who is teaching at Rolla High School,
• Chuck Miller, teaching at Columbia Hickman High School,
• Alan Freeman, now working for the Department of Natural Resources in Jefferson City,
• and Heather Johnson, who has been his co-teacher for the past four years.
Parsons' teaching theories still hold true today, according to seniors Lane Howard and Ashley Greenshields.
"He is so much of an inspiration to me," Howard said. "There are times when we as a chapter may decide to do something different than he would like, but he's right in there helping us succeed and meet our goals and dreams."
Even when he's a little tough on students, he does it in a way to help a student improve themselves and the chapter, according to Greenshields.
"It's real exciting to watch him get excited about our success," Geenshields said. "He works with you enough that everything becomes second hand."
Parsons said some of his work ethic came from the late B. Oscar Brown, who started the Salem FFA chapter in 1946. The two worked side by side for six-and-a-half years.
"We were working on a project, I don't remember what it was, and B. Oscar said the things I was trying wouldn't work, it's not possible," Parsons said.
Later the project was complete and Brown congratulated him.
"I took that as a tremendous compliment, he had such a good reputation around the state," Parsons said.
In addition to Brown, Parsons has had the support of his family; including Meredith, who took their sons to activities as they were growing up because he was unable to because of is duties as an Ag Instructor and FFA Advisor.
One of their sons planned his wedding around Parson's FFA duties.
"I have tried to be his helpmate, I have chaperoned FFA trips, cooked for FFA events and done whatever I could to help," Meredith said.
It's all helped make the students better, and the FFA chapter one of the more respected in the state.
"We've worked real hard and what has helped us around the state is our consistency," Parsons said.
The consistency Parsons provided will be missed. Parsons said he would continue to help out as needed, but it won't be the same.
"He was a wonderful and caring teacher when I was in school," Johnson said. "He was so organized, was always there for his students and helped them in any way he could."
In that regard, nothing has changed, Johnson says.
