Ag Ed Major Nathan Repetz is President of Pennsylvania 4-H State Council!

In going and out going State Council members. 

Nathan Repetz a freshman at Penn State Altoona and an Agricultural Education major has been honored with the position of president on the Pennsylvania 4-H State Council! He attended the 4-H State Achievement Days in early August, after he had submitted an application to be on council. He had to provide three references, personal information and history, and six short answer questions in the application and the process continued during the State Achievement Days.  There, he had to give a speech introducing himself, and an impromptu speech, meet with the selection panel and tell them his 4-H story, followed by a ten minute interview. He received a phone call that night telling him that he had been selected to be on council, but they were not planning to announce officer positions until the last day of the State Achievement Days. The next morning, at the closing ceremonies, they called the officers in reverse order and realized he was president when he was the last one called. He is dedicated to giving his best in leading the Council!

Nathan will have many duties as president of the Pennsylvania 4-H State Council, with the main one being the face of the program. All the council officers are to promote and represent the program at 4-H events with government officials, community organizations and programmatic stakeholders. Nathan has the privilege to be the “ go to guy” and is the first one contacted if an unscheduled event comes up. The other duties that he is in charge of are giving speeches, attending special events, overseeing the council, creating agendas, running meetings with proper parli-pro, and encouraging members to participate and do their best. The council officers have already created ELMARs – Encourage, Lead, Motivate, Advocate and Represent. Nate wrote down different ways that he will represent the ELMARs,  such as “ I will represent the council by embodying the 3 C’s: Calm, Cool and Collected,” and “I will advocate to the public about current agricultural and extension issues.”

Nate on an exchange trip!

Nate’s main project areas in 4-H were shooting sports ( air rifle, air pistol, shotgun, and muzzleloader projects) and teen leadership (serving on his county council, being a camp counselor, and submitting a yearly teen leadership log for judging). Other projects that he completed are two levels of the small engines project,

photography, babysitting, electricity, and public speaking. He also went on two county exchange trips to Burleson County, Texas and Doniphan County, Kansas and extra things to do with the organization, as they are not official projects.

As he continues through his 4-H State Council experience, he believes that it will have a great impact on his career as an agricultural teacher. He has a strong belief that FFA and 4-H are two great organizations that can learn a lot from each other and that the experiences learned in one can be transferred to the other. He said “one of our council goals this year is to close the gap between 4-H and FFA members, and I look forward to supporting both organizations for the rest of my life!” He also believes that state council will be helpful due to all the networking, and new ideas and skills to make his teaching the best it can be. He is also receiving a lot of training being on council that can be applied to any profession in the industry, such as social media training, goal setting, public speaking, and etiquette. Lastly, he said that serving on State Council has made him even more convinced that teaching agriculture is his calling!

L-R Nate and Dylan Levan (State Sentinel) at Ag Progress Days!

To learn more about starting on the path to having a career that makes a 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 at TeachAgPSU, on Facebook, or on our blog!

Jeanne Case

Student Blogger

2014 Dover HS Student Teacher

Twitter: JRose_Case