Marion D. Fletcher

  Marion Fletcher has spent his career teaching and mentoring Arkansas young people, first as a vocational agriculture instructor, and, for 20 years, as State Supervisor/Program Manager of Agricultural Education in the Department of Workforce Education. Through his affiliation with the Arkansas and National Vocational Agriculture Teachers Associations and the state and national chapters of the FFA, he has directly or indirectly touched and help shape the lives of many farm, agribusiness and legislative leaders. He spent six years as an agricultural instructor, first at Desha Central Schools in Rower, then at Magnet Cove near Malvern. In 1969 Fletcher had the opportunity to join the state Department of Education as Area Supervisor of Agricultural Education, a post he held for 20 years. In 1989 he was named Acting State Supervisor and Program Manager of Ag Education and later that same year was promoted to lead that office. In 1997, the Vocational and Technical Education Division of the Department of Education was re-named the Department of Workforce Education, where Fletcher continues to oversee the vocational agriculture program in Arkansas. When you think of Marion Fletcher you think of the FFA. He is seldom seen without young people in blue FFA jackets nearby. Fletcher is a lifetime member of the national organization and lives at Camp Couchdaleon Lake Catherine, the home of the Arkansas FFA annual conference, where he mentors and befriends hundreds of Arkansas youth each year. He is also a life member of the National Vocational Agricultural Teachers Association. Fletcher’s career also includes more than 20 years helping young people show  livestock as co-superintendent of the Arkansas State Fair Association and as a member of the Arkansas Farm and Ranch Club, where he served as president from 1992-1994. Fletcher has received numerous honors throughout his career including the Honorary American and Arkansas Farmer Degree from the FFA, Arkansas “Boss of the Year” award in 1991 and 35 years Service Award for Career and Technical Education in 2004.