FAST Reflection: Victoria Herr @Victoria_Herr

September 20-22, George Dietrich and I had the opportunity to travel to the Future Agriscience Teacher Symposium in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This event was hosted by National Teach Ag to welcome 23 future agricultural educators from 14 states. During these few days we were able to network and learn through workshops, before coming together to celebrate National Teach Ag Day! Some of these workshops focused on inquiry learning, teaching strategies, CASE curriculum, resume writing, and more. However, we still had time to explore! On Wednesday we had the opportunity to tour a POET ethanol plant and speak with their employees about agricultural education. This was an interesting experience, especially for those of us who did not know much about the biofuels industry. 

George and I showing appreciation during the live Broadcast!

After an exciting few days of experiencing some great professional development, we had the opportunity to engage in the live national broadcast for the National Teach Ag Day celebration! The program included a question and answer session with both agricultural educators and supporters of agricultural education, connections with agricultural education programs across the country, and more. It was so cool to experience behind the scenes efforts that it takes to create an inspiring broadcast! At the end of the day, it was announced that the 2017 FAST Symposium and National Teach Ag Day will be held in Chicago, Illinois and hosted by the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences! I would highly recommend that Penn State AEE students apply for this wonderful opportunity next year!

Although this week was packed with amazing experiences, I would say the workshop that meant the most to me was a question and answer session that we had with two agricultural educators. One of the teachers we talked with had been teaching in Nebraska for 15 years and the other had been in South Dakota for 3. Hearing the different perspectives of these teachers and having them answer our questions was so insightful and encouraging. While I did learn a lot and enjoyed our other workshops, I really appreciated being able to connect with these educators and I appreciated their openness and the inspiration they provided. 

Overall, the Future Agriscience Teacher Symposium was the greatest event I have attended in terms of professional development as a future agricultural educator. I know that George and I are both so thankful for the opportunity to have attended. We would like to thank the CHS Foundation, DuPont Pioneer, and Growth Energy for sponsoring this event, the National Teach Ag Campaign for hosting, and the Penn State Center for Professional Personnel Development for making it possible for us to attend. 

All 23 future agriculture science teachers thanking our sponsors!

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.

Victoria Herr

Guest Blogger

Twitter Handle: @Victoria_Herr

2019 Student Teacher Candidate