Hired! Teacher Candidate Katie Andrews hired at North Harford High School #psuaged16

“From day one of college I knew that I wanted to be an agriculture teacher.”  And that she is.  Ms. Katie Andrews, 2016 Teacher Candidate will be teaching at North Harford High School in Pylesville, Maryland.  She was “Tagged To Teach Ag” at a young age helping on her families farm along with being involved in 4-H and FFA.  She has been surrounded by great coaches and mentors including her high school ag teacher,  Ryan King and her cooperating teachers, Sherisa Nailor and Sarabeth Fulton. 

Katie and one of her cooperating teachers.

Katie was extremely involved as a student at Penn State, where she served as a Teach Ag Avenger, was active in Collegiate FFA and Teach Ag Society and a student athlete, where she excelled as a women’s field hockey player.   Her continuous involvement in her academics and in campus activities has prepared her well to teach at North Harford. 

The agriculture program at North Harford High School is a magnet program where Katie will teach with 4 teaches and a director. Students entering ninth grade living in Harford County can apply to be accepted into the Magnet program and attend North Harford High School.  At the school they can choose one of three paths in agriculture: Environmental and Natural Resources, Plant Science, and Animal Science, or the signature general agriculture program.  Katie will be the magnet teacher for Animal Science path, in addition to teaching a freshmen class in the signature program called Agriculture 1. “ I will be teaching Foundations (Freshmen), animal management (Sophomore) , anatomy and physiology (junior), and Research Capstone (Senior). North Harford is home to barn facilities housing pigs, a cow, horse and even an alpaca.  All students involved in the agriculture magnet program  can choose to be in FFA. 

Katie has already set up her seating arrangements, made bulletin board designs, and started her unit planning and school has not even started!  In thinking about some of her goals and desires for her new classroom and program Katie looks forward to what is next.

One aspect from student teaching I look forward to developing are the relationships with the community, colleagues, administrators, and students that my cooperating teachers showed me are vital for success yet important to enjoy your job everyday.”    As she moves across the desk she says “I want them to leave my class each day knowing I believe in them, care for them, and will support them for the rest of their lives.”  Congratulations Katie, and best of luck in Maryland!

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.

Kayla Hack

Student Blogger

Twitter Handle: @hackkayla

2017 Agriculture Education Student Teacher