There are many ways to describe Benjie Forrest. He’s the former eastern region agricultural education coordinator for the FFA (Future Farmers of America). He’s a member of the Pitt County Board of Education. He manages his family’s farm.

But most importantly, he’s an educator.

Forrest taught agricultural education at Washington High School for more than 18 years then became a FFA regional coordinator for more than 19 years, working out of the Vernon James Research Center in Plymouth.

His passion for agriculture began as a student in an agricultural education class at Chicod School. Forrest’s teacher told the class his first love was farming, but since he couldn’t do that, he decided to teach about it.

“That rang a bell with me because I always wanted to farm,” Forrest said.

After his father’s death in 1972, however, that dream was put on hold.

“At that time, to get involved in the business of farming would just cost too much money,” he said. “I would have had to start from scratch again.”

During his time at Washington High School, Forrest was heavily involved in the FFA program, taking his students to championship events and encouraging their involvement in the community.

“We were very, very competitive, but in the end, we all loved each other,” he said. “We were advocates and ambassadors for Washington High School and the Pam Pack.”

But when Forrest saw that he could make a broader impact, he knew it was time to transition to the coordinator position.

Lewis Forrest, president of the Pitt County FFA Alumni Association, said Benjie Forrest strengthened the FFA program during his time as coordinator, taking the number of counties in the eastern region without agricultural education programs from eight to one and starting a four-year program at the University of Mount Olive.

“I was responsible for 34 counties, which was about 10 to 15,000 agricultural education students,” Benjie Forrest said. “I had to mold those Ag programs and Ag teachers.”

He said people forget agriculture is the No. 1 industry in the state, and the industry has moved into the modern world with biotechnology and renewable energy.

Lewis Forrest said he thinks it’s amazing to see how the students excel as part of the FFA program, especially under Benjie Forrest’s leadership.

“It’s hard to even envision what Benjie has done in his career,” he said. “He asks people to do things and no matter how little you do he praises you as if you’ve done a lot. … He’s a very giving leader.”

Mac Hodges, longtime member of the Beaufort County Board of Education, was one of Forrest’s students for two years at the high school.

“I remember him when he had black hair. … With us being young and our teacher being young we were going to give it our best shot,” Hodges said.

He said one of his favorite memories of having Forrest as a teacher happened after the inexperienced team attended a national FFA competition where the team finished in last place.

After returning to Washington, Forrest went to tell Ashley Futrell, the Daily News’ publisher at the time, about the great experiences the students had — except for the last place finish out of 17 teams. Hodges said the paper ran a headline telling about the team coming in 17^th place in the nation at the event, thanks to Forrest’s positive spin on the event.

“He always thought that every child could succeed,” Hodges said. “He could find good out of every child. … He treated everybody the same.”

He said Forrest’s impact on the community never faded, as former students still ask about him.

“As a teacher, he helped prepare us after high school and for today’s world. He helped teach us all how to get out and meet people,” Hodges said. “I continue to use the same skills that I learned then, now.”

“I have had a very, very fruitful life. I have really, really been blessed to be able to do 99 percent of the time what I wanted to do,” Forrest said. “We’ve done a lot of things, gone a lot of places and touched a lot of lives.”

 A retirement gala to celebrate Benjie Forrest’s 38 years of service will be held Saturday, July 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the University of Mount Olive. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at www.eventbrite.com. Anyone who has been impacted by Forrest is invited to attend. For any questions call 252-746-4221.