Janae Herr: Penn State Ag Council Youth Leadership Award #psuaged16 #studentsuccess

Leader [lee-der]

noun: a person or thing that leads, a guiding or directing head

A leader is someone who isn’t afraid to take charge and accomplish much in a short amount of time. It is someone that is kind, delegates work, and is someone who isn’t afraid of complicated situations. At Penn State, there is an award to recognize students that are youth leaders through the Penn State Ag Council. To be qualified for this award, the student much demonstrate outstanding communication and advocacy skills, exhibit high levels of professionalism, and serve as a role model or mentor to others. This year, the Penn State Ag Council has selected a leader that has gone above and beyond in the Agriculture College. That leader is Janae Herr.

Janae is a senior majoring in Agricultural and Extension Education and is minoring in Agribusiness Management and International Agriculture. During her time here at Penn State she has dedicated her time to numerous clubs and organizations and has had several leadership roles in the college. Some of her leadership roles include, being President of the Teach Ag! Society, led a 8-day trip with several Penn State students to Mississippi to teach students in rural Appalachia, being a College or Ag Sciences Advocate, a National Collegiate Agriculture Ambassador, and has worked with national FFA corporate sponsors to aid in recruiting agriculture educators. WOW! Just reading all of those accomplishments you know that Janae cares about the agriculture industry and making her mark in the college!

Janae states, “I count myself incredibly blessed to work underneath such a phenomenal instructional team; individuals who stretch and challenge me and my peers to be the best professional and future educators we can become. I am thankful instructors who are incredibly passionate about the future of school-based agriculture education and the production of similarly passionate individuals who will choose a career in that field after graduation. I would like to give a huge thank you to each of them, Dr. Foster, Dr. Ewing and Dr. Rice for the nomination for this prestigious award and for investing continually into me as a professional and an individual.”

Congratulations again for the award Janae! It is well deserved!

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.

Olivia Murphy-Sweet
Student Blogger
Teach Ag! Avenger
Twitter Handle @OSweetMurph  

2016 Agricultural Education Student Teacher

Olivia Murphy-Sweet: Alumni Scholarship Award #studentsuccess #psuaged16

“It’s a funny thing coming home.  Nothing changes.  Everything looks the same, feels the same.  You realize what’s changed is you” F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Olivia Murphy-Sweet has lived this quote to the fullest.  She spent the summer doing research in San Ignacio Belize, immersing herself in the village of San Jose Succotz.  Olivia's research focused on establishing a 4-H program in the village of San Jose Succotz.  She attests to her personal and professional growth while in Belize.  It’s safe to say, she returned with a different perspective on life!

Like any intentional research, there was some motivation behind Olivia’s research project.  In Belize, there is a lack of youth organizational development which drives youth to turn toward crime and violence.  Community leaders worry about passing down indigenous knowledge of local agricultural practice due to the lack of youth participation.  Agriculture education programs are a key component of addressing this issue.   Olivia’s passion for agriculture education shines through all avenues of her work.

During her research, Olivia interviewed current 4-H leaders, community leaders and students in San Jose Succotz, in the Cayo District of Belize.  The interviews were to aid in understanding how 4-H youth development could be adapted to fit their cultural context in order to preserve the indigenous knowledge in the local community.  In-depth studies of the village and community during her time in Belize helped provide perspective to incorporating 4-H in the village.

Olivia’s internship experience deserves accolades, as she was one of 48 students to be conferred with the prestigious Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences Ag Alumni Society Internship Award.  Created in 1986, the Internship Award was created to recognize students who participated in an educational internship program during the school year or summer.  

Olivia would like to extend a special “thank you” to Dr. Filiberto Penados who was her in country advisor in Belize.  He helped Olivia organize her trip and made the immersion into a new culture welcoming and seemless.  She would also like to thank Dr. Melanie Miller-Foster and Dr. Daniel Foster who presented her with the opportunity and were a great support system while in and out of the country.

Olivia leaves these words of advice for her peers:

“I urge anyone interested in an internship opportunity to travel out of the area or even out of their comfort zone to fully understand the benefits of what you are doing.  Growing my personal learning network (PLN) in a different county made my learning enjoyable."

Olivia is a shining star in the Penn State Agricultural & Extension Education Program.  Her passion helps create positive agents of change to make the world a better place.  Congratulations, Olivia!

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.

Miranda Kane: Alumni Scholarship Award #studentsucess #psuaged17

The opportunities and scholarships are endless for deserving students in the College of Agriculture at Penn State. One of those deserving students, Miranda Kane, is a junior this year majoring in Agricultural Extension and Education and minoring in Spanish. She applied for the College of Agriculture Alumni scholarship and was one of 48 applicants to receive the award!

The College of Agriculture Alumni Internship Award was created in 1986 to reward students who participated in an educational internship program during the school year or summers. Since its beginning, the Ag Alumni Society has distributed $160,750 in internship awards benefiting 268 students in the college. To apply for this award you would have to create a report about the goals for the internship and an evaluation of how you viewed the internship went. Your employer also had to complete an evaluation form of how you did as well! Miranda went the extra mile and made sure that she had all of this completed to be considered for this award!

Now what exactly did Miranda do you may ask? She completed an internship as the 2015 Summer Assistant for the Chester County 4-H Program. She worked with youth all across Chester County, PA, and educated the students about the environment and their role in it. Her coworkers and her traveled to various under served communities and led a range of activities to get the members educated, active, and motivated to learn. They also encouraged members to submit crafts for the Chester County 4-H fair and directed tours for the members who joined them at the Chester County fair. Overall Miranda states that she had an amazing and educational summer working for the 4-H extension office but she couldn’t have done it without the help of people that worked in the office with her. Tracy Murdaugh who was the Programs Assistant during the summer and her supervisor Toni Stuetz both provided her with an “inside scoop” on how 4-H programming is run and the skills and techniques necessary for working with the youth. The experience motivated her only positively to becoming a great Agriculture Educator one day.

We know that Miranda is going to do amazing things in and out of the industry and we hope that she pursues furthering her education more and more as time goes on!

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.

Olivia Murphy-Sweet
Student Blogger
Teach Ag! Avenger
Twitter Handle @OSweetMurph  

2016 Agricultural Education Student Teacher

‘MOO’ve out of the way for Sarabeth Royer! #studentsuccess #psuaged16

Sarabeth Royer is a senior this year at Penn State majoring in Agricultural Extension and Education and she has done some utterly unbelievable things during her time here at school. She has made an impact by being a PSU Ag Advocate, being an active member of several student run organizations, and even works at the Poultry facilities that we have on campus. All of her hard work and dedication has led to her winning a top of the line award called the NDS/DMI Education and Communication Scholarship.

This scholarship is organized through National Dairy Shrine and Dairy Management Inc. who both co-sponsor this award for students who are pursuing degrees in education or communication in which they directly relate to dairy, agriculture, or food related industries. Due to the fact that Sarabeth has been an active member and current treasurer of the Dairy Science Club, a PSU Ag Advocate, and lives on a dairy farm in Lancaster, PA, she was able to relate to this award quite a bit! Stated in her essay, “I believe that there is a disconnect between farms and food. This ignorance is a huge and pressing problem in the United States, and has considerably shaped my decision to major in Agricultural and Extension Education. I want to help students bridge this gap between the field and the fork, the tractor cab and the fridge door, the cow and the ice cream cone...” Since her time here at Penn State, she has been working on that goal.

Sarabeth mentioned to us as well that the support she received from her professors at Penn State made her choose to apply for this award. Her professors Mr. Dale Olver and Dr. Chad Dechow (both PSU Dairy Science Club Advisors and professors in the Dairy and Animal Sciences classes) both urged her to apply and both wrote her letters of recommendation for this award.

Sarabeth will be receiving this award on October 1^st at the National Dairy Shrine awards banquet in Madison Wisconsin which is during the World Dairy Exposition. She will also be receiving a $1,500 scholarship to aid her in furthering her education. She states, “Lessons taught outside in our barn, in a field, or our milking parlor have all molded me, have sculpted me into a passionate advocate for agriculture. For these reasons, I am pursuing a degree in Agricultural and Extension Education with the hopes of teaching secondary agriculture education. After all, I am a strong believer in the fact that some of the best classrooms don’t have four walls.”

We know Sarabeth will continue being an 'Ag'vocate in the classroom and wherever she chooses to go! Keep on doing great things Sarabeth!

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.

Olivia Murphy-Sweet
Student Blogger
Teach Ag! Avenger
Twitter Handle @OSweetMurph  

2016 Agricultural Education Student Teacher

AEE Student Awarded Scholarship at PA State Farm Show

The Pennsylvania State Farm show is the largest indoor agricultural event in America. Each year hundreds of thousands people attend the event in Harrisburg to view many farm equipment displays, livestock and educational exhibits and agriculturally related demonstrations. Many students from Penn State exhibit animals and projects throughout the week and several volunteer their time working at many different booths.

Another aspect of the Farm Show that has been exciting for numerous Penn State students is the annual scholarship program. In 2014, twenty five students received the $3,500 award. Ten of those students attend Penn State and one is an Agriculture and Extension Education major.

Megan Kellar participating in the Hereford
Cattle show at the 2014 State Farm Show. 

Megan Kellar (@MeganLego) was born and raised showing livestock and has been attending the PA State Farm Show for as long as she can remember. She stated "Being able to receive the 2014 Farm Show scholarship is such a great honor. It is great to be recognized for all the hard work and dedication I have put into my education as well as my hobby and passion which is showing livestock." Megan, a 2015 student teacher candidate, has shown a wide variety of animals including goats, swine, cattle and lambs.

The College of Agricultural Sciences has contributed additional scholarship money to students enrolled in good standing in the college who receive Farm Show scholarships. The amount of this year's scholarship is $3,500, and the college will add $2,000. The Farm Show Scholarship Foundation was established in 1993 through the generous support of several key leaders in agriculture and three companies that contributed more than $11,000 toward scholarships. Since its founding, the Foundation had awarded nearly $1,064,750 in scholarships to 395 worthy 4-H and FFA Youth.

Megan Kellar accepting her scholarship along with her parents, Secretary of Agriculture: George Greig, Senator John Eichelberger, Congressman G.T. Thompson and Sponsor Phil Clemens

To learn more about the Pennsylvania State Farm Show Scholarship Foundation visit www.farmshow.state.pa.us

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!

Laura Metrick 
Student Blogger
2015 Student Teacher
Twitter: Its_LauraBeth

PSU Ag Councils Recognizes AEE Major with Youth Leadership Award

Caleb at the luncheon ready to get his award

Caleb Wright, a senior in agricultural education was recently awarded the Youth Leadership Award by the Penn State Agricultural Council. Every year the Penn State Ag Council recognizes three groups; one is a member of council for their leadership, second is a student, and third is a member or group in the agricultural industry.

Caleb was nominated for the award by his advisers and was asked to provide a resume to send into the selection committee. After sending in his resume, he was emailed said that he was selected for the award and was asked to attend the meeting to receive the award.

Caleb with his award!!

After receiving the award Caleb said “To be recognized by your peers when being elected to an office is one thing, but to be recognized by the leaders of the industry for your efforts as a student and leader is a once in a lifetime opportunity.” He is also very excited to have been selected and receive a lion statue. It is especially an honor because all of the agriculture in Pennsylvania is represented on the council and being recognized really shows that all of the work completed by you has not gone unnoticed.

Caleb feels refreshed and pumped up to go into the world as an agent of change. “This award was not won on one skill or event in my life. It has been the accumulation of taking chances and surrounding myself with amazing people and friends.” Caleb said, as he reflected on his time at Penn State.

The Agriculture and Extension Education Program has seen many student receive this award before Caleb.  This really shows the caliber of the students in the program and the amazing opportunities that the faculty provides. Students feel that taking advantage of one opportunity leads to the ability and want to do more. Sometimes students only need to take that first step to set themselves apart from the masses and find themselves as an individual. The Penn State Agriculture and Extension Education program as well as the Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education Department enable every student to reach their amazing potential.

The Lion that will be displayed on his desk this spring while student teaching at Midd-West High School

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

2014 PSU Student Teacher Allison Hoover wins Phi Kappa Phi Award!

2014 Student Teacher  Allison Hoover of Port Matilda, Pa., recently was awarded a Study Abroad Grant worth $1,000 from The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi--the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Hoover is one of 50 students nationwide to receive the award.

Currently a senior majoring in agricultural and extension education at Pennsylvania State University, Hoover will use the grant to help in completing a portion of her student teaching internship in in Environmental Sciences in Costa Rica. Hoover will also be completing a portion of the student teaching in the Wellsboro Agriscience Department in Wellsboro, PA with PSU Alum Ms. Melanie Berndtson.

Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Grants are designed to support undergraduates, both members and nonmembers, as they seek expanded knowledge and experience in their academic fields. Since the program's inception in 2001, the Society has awarded more than $500,000 in Study Abroad Grants. Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Phi Kappa Phi inducts annually approximately 32,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni. The Society has chapters on more than 300 select colleges and universities in North America and the Philippines. Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of juniors. Faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction also qualify. The Society's mission is "To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others." For more information about Phi Kappa Phi visit www.PhiKappaPhi.org.

To learn more about Allison's adventures, read her blog at: http://allihoov.blogspot.com/. You can also follower her on Twitter at: @allihoov

Follow the Wellsboro Agriscience Department on Twitter at: @WellsboroAg

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!