TSFD INSTRUCTORS

Jack Cross AAF TMFA

Jack Cross, AAF, TMFA has owned and operated Arthur Pfeil Smart Flowers, Inc. in San Antonio, TX for the past 30 years.  Arthur Pfeil Florist is a highly successful, respected, and profitable florist that has been in continual operation in San Antonio for over 69 years.  Jack is a cum laude graduate of Texas A & M University with a B.S. and Masters in Floriculture with a minor concentration in small business. Prior to coming to San Antonio, Jack was a part time teaching instructor for Texas A & M while he worked towards a PhD.  He is a two term past president of TSFA and author of several TSFA books and classes on how to be really profitable in the flower business.  Jack is a sought out teacher and lecturer for TSFA, schools and local civic groups.  As a current flower shop owner and operator who is in the shop on a daily basis, Jack brings a wealth of very relevant and up to date business principles and design practices to the classes he teaches.

Pat Becker AIFD CFD TMFA

Pat Shirley-Becker  co-owned and operated Shirley Floral Company and Greenhouses until moving to Austin in 1993. Pat has served on the Texas State Florists Association Board as Retail Director, Vice President, and President as well as serving on various committees including Chairing the Education Committee and the TSFA School of Floral Design Oversight Committee.

Pat Shirley-Becker has been instrumental in the development and success of the Level 1 High School program. She frequently volunteers at testing locations and helps to educate Agriculture Science and Fine Arts teachers to ensure they have the correct skills to pass on to their students. She has created manuals and PowerPoints as teaching aids for the teachers to learn from and teach.  This includes co-authoring the new Principles and Elements of Floral Design Teacher Manual that was created for Proclamation 2015. Pat represented Texas State Floristsâ?? Association at a Texas State Board of Education meeting, pursuing a Fine Arts graduation credit for Floral Design classes at the High School level.

In addition to serving on the Education and School Committees, Pat has been an instructor for many of the classes that TSFA has held, levels ranging from Introductory to Advanced, including classes for the Texas Certified Florist (TCF) Program. Additionally, she wrote two of the books that are currently used in the TCF Program. Pat has presented programs for TSFA at the Annual Convention & Trade Show and for the Vocational Agriculture Teacherâ??s Association of Texas (VATAT) Annual Conference, as well as smaller scale programs at Allied Florist meetings, Garden Club meetings and at Wholesale houses.