Second Year Series: Carly Rippole's (@CarlyJeanBean) Experience

Throughout our lives we find ourselves in the depths of our passion for whatever it is. In that passion we develop our minds to shape and change the future. Agricultural educators are known to have a type of passion to teach and give knowledge so that they can change the minds of our future generation. They help students find their passions and our current educator featured in the blog, Carly Rippole, is one of those educators. She is one of two educators at Derry Area High School in Westmoreland County. Carly is part of the #psuaged15 cohort, and has been teaching for two full years.

In her teaching, Carly has been most inspired by her students when they themselves find their passion. In this case their passion could be for the day or for their future career. She enjoys having students come up to her before or after class to show her something they had found or what they are excited about. "Seeing them love learning and see them get excited about different subjects or topics really helps fuel me and makes my little teacher heart so happy!" There is so much to take in during your first year of teaching, and in the second year often times teachers will change something about their strategy to become more effective. In her second year her strategy of dealing with discipline has been more consistent than her first year. "It is hard to keep track of everything your first year teaching but as you move through the year you find what you need to prioritize in your classroom. That can differ between one class and another."

Agricultural educators often have favorite or most memorable moments about their students. Carly's favorite moment was when several 8th grade students who had earned their Discovery Degree had ran for officer positions and then were placed on the team. Those students had also talked about earning their Chapter Degree. From Carly's two years of educating she has learned something very valuable. She explains, "I am not perfect and there are times when I have to sit back and think, what went wrong and how do I fix it for next time." She has had struggles throughout her two years. Some of her struggles include taking things to heart instead of letting it go, labs falling through, copier jams, and just overall bad days. Carly states, "It can be hard to shake it off and come to school the next day with a clean slate and be ready to go.  I really try to debrief on the way to and from school, that is my time to let it go!" 

One piece of advice that she can give to those who will be starting their first year of educating is that it does get easier. She simple states, "You are more comfortable with your classroom, faculty, families and curriculum. You got all the scary transition stuff out of the way. Relax a little bit and use your time and spend it on things you wanted to get to the previous year." 

We are all excited to see where your career will take you, and how you will use your passion to help students find theirs! 

Luke Kerstetter

Communications Team Member

Twitter Handle: @lmkerstetter96

2020 Agricultural Education Student Teacher

Second Year Series: A Check-In with Ms. Amanda Forstater (@CityAggie)

Ms. Amanda Forstater is a #psuaged15 member
and 2015 Penn State graduate.

It's great to keep in touch with our past #TeachAgPSU graduates! We love to give you a chance to see what kinds of awesome things our Teach Ag Grads are up to in the classroom and beyond!  

This week we're checking in with #psuaged15 member Ms. Amanda Forstater (@CityAggie) as part of our Second Year Series! Since her graduation from Penn State in 2015 with a Masters in Agricultural and Extension Education, Amanda was hired to teach agriculture in the small rural community around Pierson, Florida, at Taylor Middle-Senior High School. 

Through her time at Penn State, Taylor was actively involved in Alpha Tau Alpha (Penn State's chapter of the professional honorary fraternity for agricultural education majors), and a brother of Alpha Zeta. She also took advantage of a trip to Trinidad and Tobago as part of Penn State's INTAD 820 course to learn about Caribbean agriculture, and participated in the joint #AgEd2Korea trip with University of Florida students in 2014. Her student teaching experience took place at Tri-Valley High School with cooperating teacher Ms. Gretchen Dingman.

Ms. Forstater and her student teaching
counterpart, Ms. Gretchen Dingman of
Tri-Valley High School.

In her new position, Ms. Forstater is one of three agriculture teachers at Taylor Middle-Senior High School. She teaches the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade courses as well as several sections of the Foundations of Agriscience prerequisite for all upper-level high school agriculture courses. She also says, "We are fortunate to have an agricultural mechanics shop and a 9-acre land lab on campus where we are set up to handle livestock and horticulture projects."

We asked Amanda what she's did differently in her second year of teaching than her first, and she said she had much more confidence. "During my first year I looked to my teaching partner for the final decision making in a situation regarding our program, and while we still make joint decisions I am confident in making program decisions and handling situations alone." Her confidence is reflected in her teaching as well, and she's really working to make classroom her own. Forstater emphasizes that she's taken risks with ideas that haven't worked out, but emphasizes that it's okay. 

Ms. Forstater (3rd form L) and employees of the Florida Forest Service.

One of the biggest things Ms. Forstater learned from the two years under he belt is that it's okay to ask for help. She describes her county as being especially welcoming. She's a member of the Volusia Vocational Agriculture Teachers Association (VVATA), a county-wide group of agriculture teachers that support each other's agriculture programs. She says, "At first it might seem uncomfortable to ask for help because as a new teacher you want to prove that you can hang...", but explains that being part of the group, and seeking help when it's needed, shows the 'veterans' that she's here to stay.

We asked if Ms. Forstater has any advice for those on the pathway to becoming an agricultural educator, and she says the best piece of advice is to not give up, and appreciate the good moments. She says, "There will be days where you go home exhausted and not sure why you chose this career", but that there's plenty of days that will remind you that the students in your classroom are your students, and they will make you proud. She also comments on all the 'extra' jobs of an agricultural educator, including but not limited to: administrative paperwork, lesson plans, and all the paperwork for fairs and FFA events. She recommends to approach it all just as you approach any other large task - piece by piece. 

We wish Ms. Forstater the best of luck as she continues through her third year of teaching at Taylor Middle-Senior High School, and look forward to following her through the journey ahead!

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.

Hunter Kauffman, Student Blogger

Wildlife and Fisheries Science

The Pennsylvania State University

Email: hlk5120@psu.edu

Instagram: kauffman_hunter

Second Year Series: Janae Pettit's Experience (@janae_pettit)

We are often times looking for new inspiration or motivation to be successful in the classroom as an educator. One of the best ways to get inspiration and motivation is to ask questions for current educators to answer. Our current educator featured in the blog is Janae Pettit. She is one of two educators at Broadway High School in Rockingham County Virginia. Janae is part of the #psuaged15 cohort, and has been teaching for two years.

As an educator there will be times where you will be inspired by your students to be an even better teacher. One of Janae's most inspiring moments was this year when her students traveled to the Big E. Her students had worked hard in their Market Plan team for the past 3 years, and they were finally successful in winning a trip to the Big E as they placed second in there state competition. "Their attitude of "4th time's the charm"  is really inspiring for me to know that now that they have a taste of what it's like to win, that they want to keep working to improve as much as they can!" In her first year, Janae had spent her time trying to teach in the style that her co-teacher and cooperating teacher had done. In her second year she had realized that if she wants to be the best teacher and advisor that she can be, she must find her own way. "I stopped writing lesson plans, coaching CDE teams, and being an FFA advisor the way that they did, and started trusting in my own decisions. I took what I learned from them (because they are all amazing teachers and advisors!) and put my own spin on it! I found a new love for my job when I could just be myself!"


One of her favorite moments as an educator was during this past summer when she had spent time with the 2017-2018 Broadway FFA officers at a retreat. The officers wanted to do an overnight retreat at a summer camp, and they took ownership in the experience. "They had a genuine interest in getting to know each other and took advantage of the time they had together to not only plan cool things for our chapter, but to just have fun and grow as a team." In the past two years Janae has learned that no matter how much planning she does something will go wrong. She believes that creating plans and being organized and then trying to stick to the plan just doesn't work as an agricultural educator. "The key isn't being perfect, it's being able to bounce back." One of Janae's biggest struggles was taking a job so far from home. Even though this was one of the toughest things she has done it has been the most rewarding to her. She chose the job because it was the best fit for her and she has not regretted a day from that decision.

Her one piece of advice that she gives to incoming agricultural educators is to stay ahead of the game. She explains, "Life is so much smoother when you are a day or two ahead, instead of a day or two behind." We are excited to see what all you accomplish throughout your career as an agricultural educator!

Luke Kerstetter

Student Blogger

Twitter Handle: @lmkerstetter96

2020 Agricultural Education Student Teacher