Two AEE Students Selected for the Ag Future of America (AFA) Leaders Conference

Nina Coolidge and Nicole Guise have been selected and awarded a scholarship to attend the virtual Ag Future of America (AFA) Leaders Conference during November 11-14, 2020. "This program bridges the gap between academic, leadership, and work experiences while helping students understand the impact of their decisions." This year the opportunities include a 1:1 Professional and Peer Networking Session, Virtual Opportunity Fair, Personalized Curriculum, and On-Demand Sessions. These include Plant/Cell Based Meat, Impact of the Election on Food and Agriculture, and Sustainability and Conservation. Both of these students have filled out an application and submitted resumes including internships, club involvement, and references to be selected for this award. We are proud to have them both as Agricultural & Extension Education students at Penn State! 

The first recipient is Nina Coolidge a freshman at the University Park campus. She shares how she found the AFA conference, "I found out about this opportunity through Collegiate Cattlewomen’s Club here at Penn State. I attended a meeting where the AFA Conference was brought up and it sounded like a good opportunity." Nina plans to use this opportunity to better prepare her for her future in Agriculture Education. "Overall, I hope to gain a better knowledge of the agricultural industry, so I can take my knowledge into my own classroom once I become an agricultural educator. I would love to gain connections with agricultural industry partners that may possibly lead to future internships." Nina is excited to connect with other students from across the country and enhance her agriculture knowledge. During the conference she also hopes to gain lasting connections with industry partners. As a freshman, this is a great accomplishment and we look forward to hearing how the experience goes for Nina.

Nicole Guise has also been accepted to participate in this conference. Nicole is a senior majoring in Agricultural and Extension Education. She learned about the opportunity to attend this conference through a friend who graduated from Penn State last year, and was very involved in AFA and highly recommended it to her. She is hoping to gain content knowledge in areas where she is unfamiliar with and heading into student teaching she has some topics she would like to brush up on. Nicole shares "Hopefully, some new and creative ideas will come out of the information presented and I can incorporate it into my lesson and unit planning. " Although the conference is being held virtually this year, Nicole has been grateful of this so that she can still attend during a busy and important semester and not have to travel and take time away from classes. Nicole is most excited to meet students from other states across the country. She is looking forward to connecting with professional organizations at the opportunity fair as well. "NAAE will also be at the opportunity fair so I am excited to meet with people from the profession to learn more about how to leverage this experience in my student teaching and teaching career." With many things going on this semester, Nicole continues to find opportunities that push her to become a better leader. 

Both of these ladies have excelled in taking opportunities available in the College of Agriculture Sciences at Penn State to better themselves. They have bright futures a head of them and we are happy to have this opportunity awarded to students in our major. Congratulations again on being selected to attend the AFA Leaders Conference, we hope you have a great experience!

Morgan Bear

CPPD Student Worker

Agricultural & Extension Education

Class of 2023

Bright New Doors Open to 467 First Year FFA Members

Bright new doors open to 467 first year FFA members from all across the state of Pennsylvania! As thousands of people gathered in the New Holland Arena at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex on Monday January 9th, 2017 to watch the Pennsylvania FFA Mid-Winter Convention, they had the opportunity to witness 467 lives become inspired to Activate- Purpose, Passion, and Potential.

First year FFA members were asked earlier in the school year to fill out an application to receive a free FFA Jacket through the Pennsylvania FFA Alumni, and if they are selected to receive the jacket they will be a part of the FFA Jacket Ceremony during Mid-Winter Convention. There were over 800 students who had applied to receive this award with 88 chapters from across Pennsylvania participating in the program. This program is rewarding to all the students who participate because the FFA Jacket can open doors to so many new experiences and opportunities within the FFA Organization.

When asked how do you think the jacket campaign went, Krista Pontius Agricultural Educator at Greenwood High School, had responded "Watching the first year members zip up their jackets for the first time is such a rewarding experience for everyone involved in the alumni organization. The months of hard work that goes into the process of the jacket campaign all becomes worth it watching the New Holland Arena flooded with a sea of National Blue and Corn Gold corduroy jackets!"

The opportunity for growth within the jacket campaign is huge, but the growth depends upon the amount of money that can be raised to buy more jackets for deserving first year members. Overall it was a wonderful success in Harrisburg, PA.

To learn more about starting on the path to having a career that makes a positive impact on the live 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

Mikaela Hermstedt named Shinoda Scholar of the Year #studentsuccess

“Believe deep down in your heart that you're destined to do great things.”

Mikaela Hermstedt named Shinoda Scholar of the Year!

These are the famous words of Joe Paterno that every ‘Nittany Lion’ exemplifies throughout their journey at the Pennsylvania State University. Mikaela Hermstedt, a senior majoring in Plant Sciences, believes that her journey has allowed and prepared her to do great things in her future.

Mikaela has put much time and effort into her academics as a Shreyers Honors College student, and as an officer in multiple university clubs and organizations. Through this hard work and effort she has had the opportunity to work with the Penn State botany greenhouses and complete a Nursery Management Internship at Longwood Gardens. All while serving as President for Collegiate FFA, President for Agricultural Student Council, Treasurer for International Association of Agricultural Students, and a Team Member for Student Organization Resource Team. From these experiences she was able to build multiple skills that she plans to use in her future in commercial greenhouse production of flowering plants.

Mikaela’s hard work and work ethic is what has earned her The Shinoda Foundation highest honor as the Shinoda Scholar of the Year! One professor recommending her for the award noted, “I would rank Mikaela as one of my top students in the past 10 years at Penn State in terms of work ethic, but also in terms of attention to detail, cooperative spirit and excellent communication skills.”

The Shinoda Foundation’s sole purpose is to provide scholarship assistance to deserving students who have chosen to prepare for careers in the flower industry. It is only through education that the interests and potential of young people can be developed in order to meet the expanding demands of the floral industry. “These students represent horticulture’s best and brightest,” says Bob Otsuka, president of the Foundation. “It’s our industry’s duty to grow our future, and we’re proud to play a small role.”

Mikaela is truly one of those deserving students! She is destined to do great things to help grow the future of the floral industry.

Congratulations Mikaela Hermstedt!

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.

Halee Wasson

Student Blogger

Twitter Handle: @wasson_halee

2018 Agriculture Education Student Teacher