Agricultural and Extension Education March Student of the Month: Nell Barbour

Each month the Center for Professional Personnel Development recognizes students that have great achievement both academically and with extra-curricular activities and involvement. This month, we are excited to announce the 2022 Agricultural and Extension Education Student of the Month for March as Nell Barbour. She is a senior majoring in Agricultural and Extension Education and she hails from Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Nell attended Williamsport Area High School and did not come from an Agricultural Education program. She made her way to Penn State after attending the Pennsylvania School for Excellence in the Agricultural Sciences (PSEAS) in 2017, and then she knew that Penn State was the right fit for her so it was the only place she applied to! Throughout her time at Penn State, Nell has spent all four years at the University Park campus. Her favorite course was Biological Science 3 (BISCI 3) at Penn State. She has been actively involved in her community as she served as a West Nile Virus Technician for Lycoming County since the summer of 2019, and she has been a waitress for the Hillside Catering Company since 2017. One of her favorite places to hang out on campus is the HUB Lawn and to grab some food at Otto's Pub and Brewery. You can always catch Nell supporting her favorite team, the Nittany Lions at any given time.

This semester, Nell has been busy completing her student teaching internship at Manheim Central High School. She has been a rock star with this experience and has made a huge impact on the program and students at Manheim. Her greatest passion in teaching agriculture has been getting to educate youth from different backgrounds and make connections with them through agriculture. After graduation, Nell has plans of moving to Dubois, Wyoming to work on a dude ranch.

Nell's hobbies include going to the gym, listening to Zach Bryan on a continuous loop, and horseback riding. Her favorite quote is "The great science of   living happily is to live in the present." 

Congratulations again, Nell! We are so proud of you! To keep up with Nell follow her on Twitter @barbour_nell or on Instagram @nellbarbour.  

Morgan Bear

CPPD Student Worker

Agricultural and Extension Education 

Class of 2023

March 2017 Program of the Month: Manheim Central (@ManheimFFA)

All across the great state of Pennsylvania there are 145 school districts that have Agriculture Education courses and the FFA program. Each month we like to highlight a chapter that has stood out from the rest of the chapters. March's program of the month goes to Manheim Central High School, also know as the Manheim FFA Chapter.

Background History
Maneiem Central has had an agriculture program since 1938; specializing in agriculture science, agriculture mechanics, and environmental science. The past agriculture educators at Manheim Central  have been Chip Axe, Cecil Lohr, Bart Gill, and Kim Darr. Manheim is a three teacher department with Mrs. Deb Seibert with 31 years of teaching, Mrs. Heather Anderson with 23 years of teaching, and Mr. Jonathan Werning with 8 years of teaching.

The Agriculture Program
Manheim Central specializes in three areas to meet the needs of students in this area of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. To also aid in helping the students grow Mrs. Seibert, Mrs. Anderson, and Mr. Werning encourage them to begin or explore more in depth Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAEs). The students often have Entrepreneurship SAEs that focus on livestock projects. Placement projects often deal with a job the student holds, and exploratory projects are for students who aren't sure where their interests in agriculture lie. Manheim FFA is known to participate in CDE's but students excel in Agriculture Sales, Farm Business Management, Horse Judging, Agriculture Mechanics, and Small Gas Engines. Each team representing Manheim FFA at the 2016 State FFA Convention placed in the top five for their respective CDE's. The educators plan to innovate by always being open minded to new ideas, as well as reviewing their program of activities to help find out what is working, what needs improved, and what new things can we do.

Recent Accomplishments
Over the course of this year Manheim has had accomplishments with both SAE's and FFA. Their SAE accomplishments include two Keystone Degree recipients and five Red Rose Degree recipients.  The Red Rose Degree is a county degree. Also this past year at State Activities Week, Manheim had the state winning CDE teams for Agriculture Sales and Farm Business Management, second place team in Horse Evaluation, and Ms. Sarah Gonzalez was elected to serve as the 2016-2017 State FFA Secretary.

This agriculture program and FFA chapter certainly are doing great things, and accomplishing at high levels. We are proud have such strong agriculture education programs in Pennsylvania!
To find out more about Manheim Central's agriculture program visit their web pages: http://manheimag.org/, http://manheimffa.theaet.com or follow them on twitter @ManheimFFA

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.

 Luke Kerstetter

Student Blogger

Twitter Handle: @lmkerstetter96

2020 Agriculture Education Student Teacher