Roxane Bailey, Subby Tail Gardening

"I enjoyed when I could connect a concept that I taught with a real life example that students can related to. I am always looking for opportunities to get the students involved in hands-on, out of the building activities. Collaborating with various groups allows students to have those opportunities."

Roxane Bailey recently retired as a science teacher at Burns High School, where there was no such thing as a "typical" day. "On average for my science classes, we were either in a classroom and I was delivering a lesson or we were participating in a lab that supported the curriculum. If I was teaching Horticulture, we were usually in the greenhouse. I also managed the school side of the Harney Internship Program, which had me following up with students at their intern job sites."

Roxane comes from a line of teachers on both sides of her family, and her career started in academia. She has a B.S. in Animal Science, an M.S. in Ruminant Nutrition, and a Masters of Teaching in Education. After college, Roxane worked for the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center (EOARC) for 10 years. "Conducting outreach was a big part of my job at the EOARC. I loved it. I truly enjoy educating people (especially children) about agriculture. One of the outreach programs we started was bringing school-aged students to the station and providing them with hands-on fun activities that taught them about agriculture. The 2nd grade field trip continues to this day."

Roxane is from Ohio, where she grew up on a farm. After doing her bachelor's at Montana State University and then her Masters at University of Nevada-Reno, she made her way to Harney County for her work with EOARC. Once in Harney County, she met her husband and has been in Harney County ever since.

Once Roxane obtained her Masters in Teaching from Eastern Oregon University, she made the shift to teaching, and in addition to her more than full-time teaching role at Burns High, she participated with the Youth Changing the Community Collaborative. "I collaborated with the Youth Collaborative because it provided experiences for students through their Harney Internship Program and other programs that they would never get within the confines of classroom walls."

Now retired from the classroom, Roxane has launched a new business, Stubby Tail Gardening — a natural next step given her lifelong love of horticulture, from the school greenhouse to her own garden at home.

Outside of her new business, Roxane spends time with her son and husband fishing and traveling, and of course vegetable and flower gardening.