Hometown Brandon - Winter 2015

ultivating
Potential
Melanie McMillan
In 1918, Henry Adams wrote “A teacher affects eternity;
he can never tell where his influence stops.” One way or another,
teachers impact the lives of their students.
Agriculture teacher Andy White
is one of the many teachers at Brandon High School who is positively
affecting students in the way that he leads, mentors, and inspires.
Originally from Pelahatchie, Mr. White and his
wife Margaret have been married for thirty years
and have two children, Emily and Rebecca.
He began his teaching career at Forrest County
Agricultural High School in Brooklyn, Mississippi.
He and another teacher lived in the dorm there
and they, along with the students, managed a farm
complete with cows, hay, an orchard, and a garden.
He has fond memories of his time there, but one
experience in particular stands out.
Through a program called “Special Ag”, students
with physical and mental challenges were able to
participate in many hands-on activities and learn
“Ag” related skills. They worked in the garden and
learned how to drive a tractor. Mr. White recalls one
of the students, whom they affectionately called
Cotton, asking, “Mr. White, just one last time, can
we drive the tractor?” The result of that request was
one of White’s favorite memories. “We had three
tractors and a trailer so we lined them up and had
a little parade out in the pasture and around the
school. They had a grand time,” he recalled.
Upon leaving Forrest County, Mr. White took a
position at the Vo-Tech Center at Hinds Community
College, where he taught students from Warren
Central and Vicksburg area high schools. There
were nineteen different high school programs that
students could participate in. At the time, it was one
of the largest Ag programs in the state.
Andy was happy there and was not looking to
make a change when he received a call from Emmitt
Williams, an Ag teacher at Brandon High School.
Mr. Williams was considering retiring and asked
Mr. White to consider coming to Brandon to lead
the agriculture department. It was not until two
years later that White left Hinds to teach Ag at
Brandon High School. That was in 2002.
Hometown Brandon • 37