About Us
Ag Math Collaborative
Tom Farmer – Ag/CTE teacher
Becki Sutton – High School Math teacher
We are Texas teachers who have teamed up to offer an innovative curriculum for a CTE course called “Applied Mathematics for Technical Professionals.” Our course is completely project-based, and all TEKS are documented through a portfolio of projects the students build throughout the year. In this course, students are placed on teams that become their own companies. The students plan, purchase materials, build products, market and sell products, keep all financial records, and compete with other companies to be named “Most Profitable Company of the Year.” The innovation and quality of the products created is truly amazing.
Becki Sutton – High School Mathematics teacher – 20th year in education
“I love this program so much. It gives students the opportunity to problem-solve in real time with real-world experience. I am so grateful for the administration for letting us try this “experiment.” Tom is a wonderful partner in Applied Mathematics. He is a rock star fabricator, and extremely good at finding solutions to issues that arise.”
Tom Farmer – High School Agriculture/CTE – 19th year in education
I have had a lifelong passion in ag mechanics and woodworking. To reach and challenge more
students, a coworker and I decided to try a different didactic approach. The “Applied Math”
program was created to bridge students from the classroom to the ag department. Becki
Sutton’s instructional style in 3D and blueprint design enhances the student experience in the
shop. With the design fundamentals learned in class, I can help students take their design to
reality. Watching students’ problem solve in the fabrication process has been a rewarding
experience as an educator.
“As an administrator what I love about Applied Math is the way it answers the age old question from students “When will I ever use this in the real world?” Having an applied curriculum shows students why what they do in class is important to their future. It is also great to see the level of creativity and enthusiasm the students put into their projects. The class does a great job of the students taking ownership of their learning. The buy-in of all stakeholders in this class has also been remarkable. Board members, parents, and community members have been impressed with the idea, curriculum, and results of this class. I would highly recommend this program to any school’s curriculum.”
Wayland Damron
Principal
Eula High School
“As an employer, it is exciting to see educators developing classes such as the Applied Math Class. Providing students the opportunity to use academic principals to develop an idea, collaborate with their peers, execute a plan and ultimately create a tangible product in a competitive environment provides them an opportunity to apply abstract educational concepts in a real-world scenario. Understanding the process of building something, using problem solving, working cohesively and striving towards a desired goal provides valuable lessons that they can carry with them throughout their life, and provide motivation be creative and build things. The sense of accomplishment I have seen on the student’s faces as they present their projects fills me with optimism that there is still a desire in young people to develop great ideas, bring those ideas to fruition and create things with their hands.”
Cutter Flatt
School Board President
Division Manager
Buffalo Gap Instrumentation & Electrical
“I learned several things in Applied math class, however I think the most important thing I learned was problem solving. In my group we had several times where our projects had some malfunctions due to our original design not working. This class helped my group come up with a better way to make our creations have better structural integrity, craftsmanship, and to make our designs exactly how the buyer wanted it.”
Hannah Cauthen – 2023 Graduate
“I would say my most valuable lesson that I learned was the ability to overcome adversity. When making our project not everything would go perfectly. We had to adapt and figure out ways to overcome our problems.”
Blane Pack – 2023 Graduate
Informational Flyer
