Student of the Month: Kayla Hack #psuaged17 #teachag

Every month we like to highlight students that have gone above and beyond in the Agriculture Education department! For the month of October, that student is the one and only Kayla Hack!

Kayla is a junior this year and is minoring in International Agriculture and also specializing in Spanish. Kayla has always had a passion for teaching and agriculture so this major was the perfect career path for her. She states, “When people ask me what I want to do, I respond: “I want to teach”, there is something about teaching, learning and students that warms and breaks my heart all at the same time.  Agriculture is my subject area, and Agriculture Education community has opened a multitude of doors, at Penn State, across the nation and World for me.”

Kayla also has a unique experience in traveling seeing as she spent 10 weeks in Costa Rica through the College of Agriculture Sciences. She went with a goal of studying Spanish and agriculture while completing her undergraduate research. Upon her return, Kayla enrolled in a class called “Introduction to Teaching English Language Learners” where she is in a virtual tutoring session that allows her to go in depth with class discussions about issues involving emergent bilingual education and how teachers can play a role.

On top of all of that, Kayla is involved in the Penn State Navigators, is the Vice President of Membership Development for Teach Ag! Society, and was the Global Teach Ag! past intern and volunteer for the college.

Kayla is a great student and community member and does a lot for the Agriculture College! Congratulations Kayla for being October’s Student of the Month!

Want to know some fun facts about Kayla? Check them out below!

Hometown: East Troy, Wisconsin

Favorite PSU Class: INTAG 100, INTAG 499B, AEE 311

Favorite place to eat in State College: Cozy Thai

Favorite Penn State Athletic Team: Football

Favorite Hangout on Campus: The Study abroad Lounge or The Pasquerilla Center

If you would like to read more about Kayla’s travels, check out her blog at: http://kaylahack.blogspot.com/

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.

Undergraduate, Emily Urban, travels to Brazil for research

ESALQ students picking up avocados after a bad storm

“Oh…and take care. We have scorpions here in Brazil.” My eyes opened up as I continued to carefully dig through the random assortment of scrap metal and plastic pipes that we were clearing at the organic farm. I have to say I was appreciative of my Brazilian friend’s advice! By the way, offering a free day of labor on someone’s farm sure helps to make friends quickly. Little did they know how much I was dying to experience as much Brazilian culture as possible. 

What happens when an ‘ag-crazy’ undergrad Penn Stater gets a research grant to conduct her independent research in Brazil? To be honest, that was me and I didn’t have a clue what to expect. I was excited to interview Brazilian agriculture students at ESALQ, the university I was located at, for my project concerning Brazilian undergraduate perceptions of student-student and student-staff relationships in agriculture classes in the US and Brazil, but other than that, my goal was to learn as much as I could about Brazilian agriculture. 

This video shows ESALQ campus and history

Emily and Sarah, a fellow Penn Stater, standing in a city part in Rio.

One of Brazil’s wonderful cultural characteristics is its generous and sociable people, so it was not difficult to arrange experiences at an organic small-scale crop farm, receive tours of the crop and livestock testing facilities of the top agriculture university in South America, ESALQ, walk amongst banana and coffee plants, chew on raw sugarcane, collect avocadoes, and so much more. The only way one can make the most out of an experience like this is an adventurous spirit and always say “yes.” You outgrow the “Say no to strangers” parental advice and move onto a “yes” mentality, obviously with good judgment. Stepping out of your security bubble is when the opportunities and the true experiences begin to flow. The two weeks in Piracicaba were also filled with plenty of dancing, traditional music, Brazilian BBQs, trips to Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and other cultural must-sees…all with the “yes” mentality!  As I am currently preparing to student teach next semester, I want to stretch students out of their confidence zones when I can. As a future educator, I would like to help students grow a “yes” mentality to new ideas and situations that they develop self-reliance and confidence that they can take with them throughout their career trajectory. 

A 16 hour solo bus journey to the capital city, Brasilia, was totally survivable! I was greeted with open arms by a wonderful host family for my final week in Brazil. The mother is the director of Brazil’s Science Without Boarders program, which is the Brazilian government’s ambitious initiative to send their students abroad.  I also had the ability to visit Embrapa, Brazil’s main agriculture research center, and spent a large portion of the time touring the crop genetics and biofuel labs and facilities. With their daughter, I visited a showjumping riding and training center with a fellow equine enthusiast.

And my point of sharing a glimpse of this experience is…?

                    1.)     I am a college student on a budget. The truth is with a little creativity and ambition, there is funding out there, even undergraduates to grasp opportunities like mine.

                    2.)    There were ups and downs in the trips. Even frightening times, but also amazing times. An independent international experience that is practically completely self-guided can be challenging, but so rewarding.

                    3.)    This trip has opened my eyes to be REALLY appreciative some of the things we take for granted in the US, including our education system and agriculture policies.

                    4.)    Finally, I want to help connect undergraduates to grants and experiences like this, because it was an unbelievable way to make international contacts, be inspired about new career ideas, and have an overall incredible experience…so contact me if you would like to hear more. Tchau!

HUB Lawn equivalent of ESALQ.

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!

Emily Urban - Guest Blogger
2014 Student Teacher 
Oley Valley High School
@UrbanEmilyR

Gaining Global Competency and Applied Research Skills: Bryanna Kenno's European Adventure

Study abroad group in the English Gardens in Munich, Germany

Bryanna Kenno, a junior at Penn State, was chosen to help Laura Rice (@laurasankeyrice) this summer with her Ph.D dissertation work in Sweden. She was recommended for the position by Dr. Foster, her adviser. Bryanna was eligible for the position because she is majoring in Agricultural Extension and Education with a minor in International Agriculture, as well her good grades and involvement in extracurricular activities. Bryanna fit the bill perfectly and was ready to travel to Europe.

To get to Europe, Bryanna traveled with a group of eight students and two adults from Penn State Altoona as they made their way to Germany for a short term study abroad experience. Bryanna arrived in Germany in early May to complete the short course study abroad, and then left the group to travel to Sweden by herself. Bryanna stayed in Sweden for about three weeks and said that that travel experience was definitely different, as she had to deal with delay or gate changes which can be scary in a foreign airport alone.

Group representing Penn State at the Ritter Sport factory in Waldenbuch, Germany

When she was in Germany with the Altoona group, the study abroad class focused on agricultural production systems. The class got to tour three dairy farms, the Ritter-Sport chocolate factory, a brewery, a winery and vineyard, a German McDonald’s, and the Viktualien Market in Munich. Sweden didn't have as many sightseeing opportunities but Bryanna spent a few days exploring the city of Uppsala then joined Laura to tour the Viking Burial Grounds. She and Laura also went to the coast of the Baltic Sea with a couple that Laura had met at the University.

Besides traveling across Europe, Bryanna also did some work while she was there. Bryanna helped Laura research effective instruction in post-secondary agriculture courses, specifically working to develop operational definitions of teaching practices of award winning agricultural educators at Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (http://www.slu.se/en/) She accompanied Laura to interviews with faculty, entered data into spreadsheets and completed a review of literature. Bryanna was able to work with faculty members and students of the college.

Viking Burial Grounds in Gamla Uppsala, Sweden. Grounds date back to the 1500's and Vikings were usually cremated and buried in a tomb underneath the mounds. 

With a more globalized view on agriculture, Bryanna said that the traveling she did and her research experience has impacted her as a future educator in numerous ways. She had the opportunity to experience agricultural systems in Germany and interact and discuss agriculture with students her age from both countries --- students from Hohenheim University in Germany and students from SLU in Sweden. When she got home she felt a sense of reassurance and knew that entering the field of agricultural education was the right decision. In both Germany and Sweden their secondary schools don’t have agricultural education classes and the students that Bryanna met were amazed that so many American high schools offer agricultural programs. This made her appreciate agricultural programs and FFA in a whole new way. “I also knew that I made a great decision by conducting undergraduate research involving agricultural education because the field means so much to me. I want to leave a lasting impact on my future students and all of my experiences in Europe will allow me to do this.”

Bryanna starts undergraduate research in the fall that will partially stem off of Laura’s work from this summer. She will be researching how student’s evaluations of classes in the College of Agricultural Sciences affect the way professors teach the classes in the future.

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