Sand Springs agriculture teacher Paul Hoey grew up in the city, but he started thinking about being a farmer when he was in fifth or sixth grade after seeing an educational film.

"I honestly believed, as a city kid, I could go to Alaska and be a farmer," said Hoey, who grew up in midtown Tulsa. "Wilderness and wildlife for me was Woodward Park or Swan Lake."

The longtime Charles Page High School teacher recently was named a graduate of distinction in agricultural education by Oklahoma State University. Hoey called it "one of the most humbling honors I have ever received."

During his 26-year tenure at the high school, Hoey remembers only two students whose parents made their living in agriculture, but the subject is important to everyone, he said.

"Agriculture is such a diverse field. The understanding makes them a better consumer," he said. "The other thing is the kids that study agriculture and understand it are real well-rounded."

Senior Ethan Mock said he has taken four classes from Hoey over the years.

"He's hands-on. He'll get down there and kind of help you out if you're having a problem," Mock said. He learned welding in Hoey's Agriculture Power and Technology class, he said.

Brian Loveland also has taught agriculture at Charles Page for 26 years.

Assistant Superintendent Robert Franklin said the school benefits from the partnership.

"We're a suburban district, but yet we have two very active and full-time teachers," he said.

Hoey was the district's first nationally board certified teacher and always has been a trendsetter, Franklin said.

The school's greenhouse would appear to rival a small commercial operation and includes "just about anything the kids want to grow," Hoey said.

With funding from a government grant, horticulture students have planted redbuds and dogwoods on the high-school grounds, and the district maintains a 7-acre farm for student projects.

Seventy percent of Hoey's agriculture classes are spent outside of the classroom, he said.

"We learn by doing. If they plant it, they learn it," he said.

Hoey's youthful dream of farming in Alaska eventually faded away, but it was not entirely forgotten.

He and his wife, Kathleen, who teaches computer programming at the school, named their 20-acre farm NADIOAK, which he said stands for Not An Alaskan Dairy; It's Ours Oklahoma.