#psuaged18 Final Presentations Schedule

What an exciting time of the year! As the fall semester winds down and comes to an end, it's time for the final presentations from our outstanding #psuaged18 members! 

You're welcome to join in watch their presentations via Zoom connection as they show what they learned through their past three and a half years at Penn State!

Our 11 members of #psuaged18 standing at the Nittany Lion Shrine.

What are the presentations about?

The presentations are meant to be a holistic overview of total preparation expiring, but they also represent the final for the following 13 credits of courses:

·        AEE 295 (3) – Early Field Experiences in Agricultural Education

·        AEE 350 (3) – Teaching Methods in Agricultural Education Laboratories

·        AEE 412 (4) – Teaching Methods in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

·        AEE 413 (3) – Program Planning in Agricultural Education

Each candidate is allocated 1 hour. Of that one hour, 30 minutes is provided for public presentation and the 30 minutes is utilized for individual consultation/discussion with the agricultural teacher education panel. Time will be provided for questions and answers as part of the public presentation. Questions are accepted from both the face-to-face audience as well as the virtual audience.

The candidates have been asked to answer the following three essential questions as part of their public presentation:

Question I – Who do I aspire to be as a teacher? 

Description: The teacher candidate will present an overview of the type of teacher they aspire to be. Teacher candidate will share their fundamental beliefs and philosophy as well as evidencing their comprehension and integration of a total agricultural education program.

Question II – What experiential education opportunities have I engaged in to become a better agricultural educator?

Description: The teacher candidate will present relative coursework, internships, study abroad experiences, and life experiences that helped prepare them to be an agricultural educator. The key for the candidate to draw the connections from the experiences to how it will help them succeed in the agricultural education profession.

Question III- How am I prepared to maximize my student teaching internship opportunity?

Description The teacher candidate will show evidence of planning completed to be prepared to best serve the secondary students of the cooperating center.

#psuaged18 Final Presentation Schedule

Wednesday, December 13th

9:00am         Rose Cowan, @Cowan_Rosalind

Professional Blog: Grace & Growth 

Internship Location:            Penn Manor HS (Millersville, PA);

Cooperating Teacher:          Neil Fellenbaum, @NeilFell

Zoom Connection:              https://psu.zoom.us/j/406185396 [+1 669 900 6833 (US Toll); Meeting ID: 406 185 396]

10:15am       Angela Becker, @BeckerAngelaM

Professional Blog: Inches to Acres: Teaching to Grow 

Internship Location:            Manheim Central HS (Manheim, PA);

Cooperating Teacher:          Deb Seibert

Zoom Connection:              https://psu.zoom.us/j/278828215 [+1 646 876 9923 (US Toll); Meeting ID: 278 828 215]

11:30am       Karlie Wright, @Wright_KarlieM

Professional Blog: Karlie Writes

Internship Location:            Fort Cherry HS (McDonald, PA);

Cooperating Teacher:         Jodie Hoover, @HGParkinsonFFA

Zoom Connection:              https://psu.zoom.us/j/294109116 [+1 669 900 6833 (US Toll); Meeting ID: 294 109 116]

1:15pm         Macy Fisher, @Macy_Fisher

Professional Blog: Macy's Moments

Internship Location:            Selinsgrove HS (Selinsgrove, PA);

Cooperating Teacher:          Valerie Fry, @ValSFry

Zoom Connection:               https://psu.zoom.us/j/603171146 [+1 408 638 0968 (US Toll); Meeting ID: 603 171 146]

2:30pm         Allyson Balmer, @Allyson_Balmer

Professional Blog: The Agrication Station

Internship Location:            Tri-Valley HS (Hegins, PA);

Cooperating Teacher:         Gretchen Dingman

Zoom Connection:              https://psu.zoom.us/j/733802451; [+1 669 900 6833 (US Toll); Meeting ID: 733 802 451]

3:45pm         Michala Kuhlman, @Kuhlman_M40

Professional Blog: The Chronicles of Becoming an Ag Teacher

Internship Location:           Central Columbia HS (Danville, PA);

Cooperating Teacher:         Curt Turner

Zoom Connection:             https://psu.zoom.us/j/350629115 [+1 408 638 0968 (US Toll); Meeting ID: 350 629 115]

Thursday, December 14^th

9:00am         Heather Wasson, @heatwasson

Professional Blog:  From the Plow to the Owl

Internship Location:            Cowanesque Valley HS (Westfield, PA);

Cooperating Teacher:          Marty Heyler

Zoom Connection:              https://psu.zoom.us/j/979627927 [+1 646 876 9923 (US Toll); Meeting ID: 979 627 927]

10:15am       Halee Wasson, @Wasson_Halee

Professional Blog:  Rooted in Agriculture

Internship Location:             Derry Area HS (Derry, PA);

Cooperating Teacher:           Roy Campbell

Zoom Connection:               https://psu.zoom.us/j/497123380 [+1 646 876 9923 (US Toll); Meeting ID: 497 123 380]

11:30am       Katie Smith, @KatieLady1995

Professional Blog: Emu's in Pre-K! My Ag Ed Adventure

Internship Location:            Northwest HS (Shickshinny, PA);

Cooperating Teacher:          Anthony Honeycutt, @thehoneyowl

Zoom Connection:              https://psu.zoom.us/j/434509673 [+1 408 638 0968 (US Toll); Meeting ID: 434 509 673]

1:15pm         Cheyenne Myers, @MyersCheyenneN

Professional Blog: Galloping Into Ag Ed

Internship Location:            Kennard Dale HS (Fawn Grove, PA);

Cooperating Teacher:          Abigail Cornett, @AbigailSSmith

Zoom Connection:              https://psu.zoom.us/j/189541741   [+1 646 876 9923 (US Toll); Meeting ID: 189 541 741]

3:45pm         George Dietrich, @TheGeorge4H

Professional Blog: From Green Blazers To Blue Corduroys

Internship Location:            Cumberland Valley HS (Mechanicsburg, PA);

Cooperating Teacher:          Darla Romberger, @DJR_131

Zoom Connection:              https://psu.zoom.us/j/864454949 [+1 408 638 0968 (US Toll); Meeting ID: 864 454 949]

Hunter Kauffman, Student Blogger

Wildlife and Fisheries Science

College of Agricultural Sciences

Email: hlk5120@psu.edu

Instagram: kauffman_hunter

Penn State's 2017 NAAE Upper Division Scholarship Winners

Angela Becker

22 students from across the United States had received the Upper Division Scholarship from the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE). Their efforts in academic performance, leadership, service, and passion to become an agricultural educator has allowed them to qualify for this scholarship. Penn State has three students that were selected to receive this scholarship Angela Becker, Allyson Balmer, and Rosalind Cowan. Each of them will receive $1,500 to offset their expenses during their student teaching experience this spring.

Allyson Balmer

Rosalind Cowan

Angela will be student teaching at Manheim Central High School in Manheim, PA, and she plans to use the scholarship to help with finances including teaching supplies and rent for her apartment. Allyson plans to use the scholarship for living expenses and supplies as well while she is student teaching at Tri-Valley High School in Hegins, PA. Rosalind will be student teaching at Penn Manor High School in Millersville, PA, and she plans to use the scholarship to offset living expenses during her student teaching experience.

The funding for this scholarship came from Growth Energy, National Geographic Learning | Delmar Cengage Learning, and donations from Herman and Bobbie Wilson. Growth Energy as stated in their mission statement, "represents the producers and supporters of ethanol, who feed the world and fuel America in ways that achieve energy independence, improve economic well-being, and create a healthier environment for all Americans now." National Geographic Learning is a part of Cengage Learning and they, "believe that an engaged and motivated learner will be a successful one, and they design our materials with a highly interactive storytelling approach which is a great way to invoke these connections." 

The NAAE is a professional organization in mission to provide advancements to agricultural education, grow agricultural educators, recruit and prepare future agricultural educators that have a passion to teach. They provide their 7,800 members with resources that can be used inside the classroom as well as professional development through conferences and conventions. The mission of the NAAE is, "Professionals providing agricultural education for the global community through visionary leadership, advocacy and service."

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

Communications Team Member

Twitter Handle: @lmkerstetter96

2020 Agricultural Education Student Teacher

Guest Blog: 5th Annual Domestic Study Away: Day Two- "Student Ownership"

Editor's Note:
What is a Domestic Study Away? A Domestic Study Away (DSA) is a non-credit experience that is 100% Student-Developed and Student-led. The Penn State Teach Ag! Society runs where a group of students travel to a State to explore the following: 

1. What does #AgEdu look like in other states? How is the total model of school-based agricultural education (Classroom Instruction, Youth Leadership Development <FFA> and Work-based learning <SAE>) uniquely provided? 
2. Who are the #AgEdu Stakeholders in the state? Specifically, what agricultural industry is being served? 
3. A unique yearly selected professional development topic! For #psuaged2WI, it is "Gender in the Agriculture Industry, Agricultural Classroom and Agricultural Education Profession. 

You can virtually-engage with this experience by reading and commenting on the daily blogs and following the experience on Twitter and Facebook with our hashtag #PSUAgEd2WI. We could not complete this transformative learning experience with out the incredible support of our partners including: The Pennsylvania Association of Agricultural Educators, The Wisconsin Team Ag Ed, The Penn State Center for Professional and Personnel Development and the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences Student Activities Fund.

Kind greetings as we entered the
 Holmen FFA laboratory. 

This is a series of blogs capturing reflections from each day of the experience by one of the participants. The goal is to post the daily reflection 24 hours after completion of activity. Below is the second day reflection of Angela Becker (@BeckerAngelaM), a member of the #psuaged18 cohort with a minor in Animal Science. Angela will be completing her student teaching internship with Ms. Deb Seibert of the Manheim Central Agriscience Program (@ManheimFFA) in Manheim, PA. The reflection focus is the second official day of DSA in Holmen, Wisconsin at Holmen High School and The University of Wisconsin at River Falls.

On Tuesday, May 9th I had the opportunity alongside the Penn State Teach Ag! Society to visit Holmen High School in Holmen, Wisconsin. This was our second high school visit of the trip and was a very different experience when compared to East Technical High School in Cleveland from the the day before. Holmen High has a student population of 1,200 with 280 enrolled in agricultural courses. Mr. Roger King, a graduate of The University of Wisconsin at River Falls, is their dedicated Ag teacher and has taught there as a single teacher for 33 years!

Mr. King was the 2016 Wisconsin Teacher of the Year (not Ag Teacher of the Year, but TEACHER of the year, the only state-wide teacher of the year in 2016 with an agriculture focus). Through our interactions with him, we witnessed his humble nature. On the day of our visit, the “Food for America: Elementary Farm Event” was taking place. For this event his students hosted 4th graders at 3 locations where the FFA members would present about livestock, dairy, or horses.

FFA members teach 4th grade students about
chickens during the Food for America event. 

Mr. King assisted in the preparation minimally. As a veteran teacher, he holds a great deal of credibility with the community and at this point in his career, does not even have to ask community members for help. We saw that his students had taken full responsibility for the event and successfully taught small lessons throughout the day to their young peers. Hopefully, some of these youngsters will find value in entering agriculture education when they reach the high school level.

Mr. King diligently hanging his
 PSU Teach Ag! pennant.

In Mr. King’s classes he utilizes hands on learning where students “Learn by Doing.” Every task or activity was organized and pushed the students to learn applicable skills, which would help them in many different ways outside of the classroom. They learned physics when tasked with building a fishing pole and a turkey call in class. Inquiry was also a focus here as asking critical questions and student-directed problem solving takes place on the daily. He hopes that in his classes, each student will be able to individualize their interests and discover their niche. As we wrapped up our tour with Mr. King at Holmen, he hung a Penn State Teach Ag! pennant on his wall! We jumped back in the big white van and followed him to his Alma Mater at River Falls.

Macy snapping a quick
picture of the Jersey calf.

The drive to University of Wisconsin at River Falls was beautiful and the campus did not disappoint. Some the of the students majoring in Agricultural Education were poised and ready to show us around their school and tell us about life in the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences affectionately known as CAFES. Our tour was filled with fun tidbits of information about their school and we even got to see some dairy calves (our Jersey lover of the group was elated, @macy_fisher).

Recent statistics about WI gender in #AgEd 

After our tour we were lucky to have a potluck dinner with UWRF Ag Ed majors where we swapped stories about academic life at our universities and shared some jokes. Dr. Tim Buttles provided a formal information session where we learned about some Wisconsin Ag Ed statistics (my personal favorites shown above). We were glad to gather some gender specific statistics that tie directly to the theme of our trip, “Gender in Agriculture, in the Secondary Agriculture Classroom and in the Agricultural Education Profession.”

#AgEd majors from Penn State and University of Wisconsin River Falls.

Join us as we reflect tomorrow after our visit with Ms. Rachel Sauvola at New Richmond High School. We hope that you follow along with us on the rest of our #PSUAgEd2WI journey!

Check out our Day two video created by Allyson Balmer (@allyson_balmer). Allyson will be student teaching during the Spring 2018 semester with Ms. Gretchen Dingman at Tri-Valley High School in Hegans, Pennsylvania.

To read more about our #psuaged2WI adventures, see:

• Day 1 - We are going on an #AgEdu Adventure by @TheGeorge4H 

Angela Becker

#PSUAgEd18

@BeckerAngelaM