Pennsylvania FFA Kicks Off National FFA Week by “Sprouting Opportunities”!

PA FFA members get ready to start the conference.

Have you been celebrating National FFA Week?  The past two weekends FFA members from across the state of Pennsylvania attended the Agricultural Cooperation Establishes Success (ACES) conference.  Members had the opportunity to attend leadership workshops, show their moves on the dance floor, and even have an encounter with Teach Ag! at Penn State!  

Penn State lead a workshop called "Teach Ag" which focused on the big picture of agricultural education and how FFA members have a future inspiring students.  Agricultural education does not just happen in the United States; it happens worldwide.  It is important that we educate people not only in the agriculture classroom, but also use opportunities in the community.  Students also brainstormed ways that they can be advocate for agricultural education by sharing ideas on various events that we can do.  Some of the examples were: community gardens, teaching elementary students, and community Ag days.  We look forward to seeing some of these bright FFA members become possible agriculture teachers!

We were happy to have some of our dynamic AEE majors helping out with these workshops at the conference!  Those that participated were:

Caleb Wright, 2014 Student Teacher - University Park

Meagan Slates, 2014 Student Teacher - University Park

Quinn Cashell, 2014 Student Teacher - University Park

Olivia Murphy Sweet, 2016 Student Teacher - Mont Alto

Janae Herr, 2016 Student Teacher - Berks

Matt Dodson, 2016 Student Teacher - Mont Alto

So here are some questions...How are you going to inspire students?  How will you advocate for agricultural education?  How do you celebrate National FFA Week?  Please share your answers and ideas on our Facebook page, Teach Ag! at Penn State, and tweet us at @TeachAgPSU!

Happy National FFA Week!

To learn more about starting on the path to having a career that makes positive impact on the lives of students across the globe by becoming an agricultural educator, please contact the agricultural teacher education program at teachag@psu.edu. Follow us on Twitter @TeachAgPSU, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PSUTeachAg.

By: Matthew Dodson, 

Student Blogger

2013 Teach Ag Avenger

2016 Student Teacher Candidate