The Magnificent SEVEN: #psuaged17 still learning post student teaching experience

Searching the dictionary for the definition of lifelong learning, one would read:

"The provision or use of both formal and informal learning opportunities throughout people's lives in order to foster the continuous development and improvement of the knowledge and skills needed for employment and personal fulfillment."

The Magnificent Seven, #psuaged17 are exemplifying this practice.  While they have emerged from their Student Teaching Internship, and are only a few days away from being official Penn State University graduates, they continue to seek out learning opportunities.

On Wednesday, April 26, 2017 #psuaged17 joined the Berlin Brothersvalley Young Farmer Chapter to learn about adult agriculture education programs and the procedures to start a young farmer chapter within a school district.  The Berlin Young Farmers Chapter is currently the largest chapter in the Pennsylvania Young Farmers Association (PYFA) with 129 members.  Berlin membership includes forty-two couples and thirty-seven lifetime members of the PYFA.





                       
#psuaged17
also had the unique opportunity to meet with Berlin firefighters to learn about grain bin
entrapment, and utilizing a farm grain tube should an individual be trapped.  Seth Forry, Berlin paramedic lead the presentation.  All film and pictures used during the presentation were from the Keith Leydig Farm.  Mr. Leydig is the first assistant in the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department.
















The Magnificent Seven had a informative evening learning and engaging with the Berlin Young Farmers Chapter.  Thank you to Doyle Paul, and the Berlin Young Farmers Chapter for the warm welcome and hospitality!








Stay tuned to hear more about #psuaged17's exciting adventures through their Post-Internship experience.

Luke Kerstetter

Student Blogger

Twitter Handle: @lmkerstetter96

2020 Agricultural Education Student Teacher

Kayla Hack (@HackKayla) Hired! 2017 Teacher Candidate Hired at Honesdale High School

"I think Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.... because there are so many students that education, especially in agriculture or career and technical education truly does change the course of their life and even their families." 

Kayla Hack is originally from East Troy, Wisconsin, but she is here to stay in Pennsylvania as she becomes Honesdale's Agricultural Educator and FFA Advisor in Wayne County. Throughout her college experience Kayla has been involved in Teach Ag! Society where she had served as an officer for two years; Navigators Ministry; worked for National FFA as a facilitator; studied abroad and conducted undergraduate research in Costa Rica.

Kayla completed her student teaching experience at Pequea Valley High School in Kinzers, PA, in the heart of Lancaster County. She taught five different classes: Foods Unwrapped, Power Technology, Intro to Agricultural Mechanics, Ag Biology and Horticulture. While she was there she had the opportunity to do some interesting things with the students which included: Horticulture students preparing and hosting a workshop at The Factory Ministries for community members teaching flower arranging. The Factory Ministries empowers others to strengthen their community, and the students helped accomplished that with their workshop. The project was possible through a grant from the Pequea Valley Education Foundation. 

At Honesdale High School, Kayla will be opening up a brand new agricultural education program. The last time Honesdale had an agriculture program was in the 1960s. She will be required to build the program from the ground up. This includes curriculum to facilities, but she couldn't be more excited! The community and county are extremely supportive of the program and are giving her a helping hand in getting things started. She recently attended the Wayne County Economic Development Council Annual Dinner where she had the opportunity to meet agricultural leaders in the area.  Agricultural leaders are excited for the program to begin and ready to help in any way they can.  Honesdale agricultural program will be a general agriculture program where in the first year will feature Agriculture 1, a year long introduction to agriculture course with forestry, Foods Processing, Horticulture, and Animal Science. She is ecstatic to meet many community members and producers this summer as she moves up to Wayne County and meet the students in the fall.  Kayla states, "Starting a new program can be intimidating, but when you've been working hard and prepared and mentored well, it's every agriculture teacher's dream." A little fun fact about Wayne County Highlands is 75 miles from Manhattan, NY!

Congratulations Kayla on your recent position at Honesdale High School we wish you the best of luck starting this program!

 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

Student Blogger

Twitter Handle: @lmkerstetter96

2020 Agricultural Education Student Teacher

@TeachAgPSU Family Creed

The @TeachAgPSU Family Creed

Composed by #psuaged17 and #psuaged18

Inspired by the Ag Teachers Creed from @NAAE

We believe in activating the purpose, passion and potential of agricultural education that has inspired the Penn State TeachAg Community.

We are committed to always learning together to build our Ag Ed community to find a way to thrive while honoring the process!

We believe in the process of passing on the gift of our knowledge and experiences.

We believe that knowing your skills and recognizing weaknesses will allow you to better elevate your students’ potential and show them they matter.

True mentorship occurs when we take every opportunity granted to ensure that our interactions with other are meaningful and positive for all involved.

We will always strive to help our fellow PSU Ag Ed family members by sharing resources and experiences so that we can always leave the woodpile higher.

It is family. It is support. It is unique to itself, as a whole and to each individual.

Watch the the cohorts share below!

The Magnificent SEVEN returns: #psuaged17 shares impact

Our Magnificent SEVEN 2017 Penn State Agricultural Education Student Teachers (#psuaged17 on Twitter - Check it out!)  return today, April 24th, for their post-internship seminar! They have spent the last fifteen weeks completing internships in secondary schools across Pennsylvania!

The PSU Teach Ag! Program thanks each of you for the role you have played in their educational journey. Below is a snapshot of this incredible group of students accomplishments. To learn more about the individual candidates, please view the PSU Teach Ag! Student Showcase: http://teachagpsu.blogspot.com/2017/02/magnificent-7-student-showcase.html.

As a group, the #psuaged17 interns:

• Taught 46 different classes to students from K-12th grades that are 40 minute periods to 90 minute “block” periods in length.

• Delivered 106 units of instruction on topics from leadership development, agricultural mechanics, environmental sciences & natural resources, plant sciences, animal sciences and much more!

• Impacted the lives of 571 individual students

• Helped their cooperating centers earn and implement $10,247 of extramural funding assisted from grants, sponsorships, and fundraisers..

• Lead students in 292 hours of community service

• Has Earned (or will earn) degrees from 4 areas:
• Agricultural & Extension Education (B.S.); Agricultural & Extension Education (M.S.); Horticulture (B.S.); International Agriculture Development (Dual Title, M.S.);

• Obtained 4 Minors/areas of emphasis:
• Business; International Agriculture; Environmental Soil Science; Spanish

• Participated in Global Learning in 13 Countries, including:
• Belize; Canada; Costa Rica, Czech Republic, France; Gibraltar (Territory);  Hungary,  Iraq, Mexico; Morocco; Nicaragua; Peru; Spain


• Completed THREE Domestic Study Away Programs in, Colorado (Service Learning Pedagogy with Farm to School Initiatives), Mississippi (Financial Literacy through agricultural education in Appalachia Areas, and Tennessee (STEM in agricultural education in rural and urban settings)


• Will have members who are Pennsylvania Certified (with reciprocity in more than 45 states) in the following 3 areas:  Agriscience K-12; Environmental Science; General Science


• Earned 10 different Additional Certifications/Accreditation/Licenses, including(listed alphabetically):
• Accredited Parliamentarians from the Society of Agricultural Education Parliamentarians; Basic Archery Instructor; Beef Quality Assurance; Commercial Driver’s License (CDL); CPI Non-Violent Crisis Prevention; First Aid/CPR/AED Certification; Food Science ServSafe Certification; National Safe Tractor and Machinery Operation Instructors; OSHA 10-hr Safety Course in Construction Safety and Health; Pork Quality Assurance;


• Completed 7 SLO/action research projects during their internship, including:
• Literacy and Vocabulary in Agriscience
• Exploring student expression of conceptual knowledge through varied assessment.
• Beef Quality Assurance delivered through online course design.
• Effects of Prior Experiences on Performance
• Literacy Strategies Through Reflection Exercises
• Student choice in unit projects impact on understanding of unit objectives
• The Effectiveness of Note card "Cheat Sheets" as a Study Aid for Written Summative Assessments


• Completed 7 custom learning projects (DIY Teacher Education) for their center, including:
• SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) Career Exploration Project.
• Exploring connection with TangerKIDS grants.
• In-between the rows SAE highlights in the Local newspaper
• The Artisan Market Product Guide
• Online Leadership Course
• Columbia County Ag Safety Day
• Agriculture Program Promotion on Orchard Management Unit with Centre Daily Times


• Completed 2 research projects, including:
• Identifying characteristics of effective contextually relevant Spanish language immersion experiences in Turriabla, Costa Rica
• A comparison of youth perceptions of entrepreneurship in rural Pennsylvania and Nicaragua.


• Involved in 21 professional organizations, including(listed alphabetically):
• Ag Club, Penn State Altoona; Alpha Tau Alpha, National Agricultural Education Honorary; Alpha Zeta; Association of Career & Technical Education; Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development; Boy Scouts of America; Collegiate 4-H, Penn State; Collegiate FFA , Penn State; International Agriculture and Development Graduate Student Association; Graduate Student Association, AEE, Penn State; Gamma Sigma Delta; Grange- Penn State, National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE); Navigators - Christian Fellowship, Penn State; North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture; Pennsylvania Association of Agricultural Educators (PAAE); Pennsylvania FFA Alumni; Students for Cultivating Change - Penn State; Teach Ag! Society, Penn State; Young Farmers; Wisconsin  FFA Alumni


• Gained experience or have been employed with over 22 different relevant jobs/Internships including (listed alphabetically):
• Anna’s House Outreach Center; The Arboretum at Penn State; Brightview Landscaping; BYU-Idaho Orchard and Greenhouse Manager; Cedar Meadow Swine; Center for Professional and Personal Development, Penn State; Fleming Landscape; Global Teach Ag! Initiative, Penn State; Kaye Soils Laboratory, Penn State;  Mohala Farms (Oahu, HI); National Association of Agricultural Educators; National FFA Organization; Pennsylvania FFA Association; Pennsylvania Farm Bureau;  PSU Extension - Chester County; PSU Farm Operations and Services; PSU Swine Center; Roohan Realty; Student Farm at Penn State;  United States Liability Insurance Group; Vivayic, Inc.; WSWHE BOCES Horticulture CTE School; World Food Prize


• Fun Facts about #psuaged17:
• Taught an agricultural biology class that is paired with the general biology course which every sophomore takes!
• Family legacies in agriculture: One candidate is named after my Great Grandmother who turns 93 this year and still lives on the family dairy farm.
• Includes a proud veteran of our Armed Forces
• Coordinates the Badlands Jackpot Show
• Served as a PSU TeachAg! Avenger!
• Served as a National Teach Ag! Ambassador
• Is fluent in Spanish!
• Former State Level 4H and FFA Officers from multiple states!
• Professional Commercial Drivers
• Division III Varsity Cross-Country Athletes
• Completed a two year mission for the Church of Latter Day Saints
• Shared scholarship at multiple university wide and national research conferences.


To learn more about their specific student teaching experiences, check out their professional blogs and follow them on Twitter:


• Michael Cahill (@cahillms89). Journey to Teacherhood. Cooperating Center: Bald Eagle HS;
  Post Graduate Plans: Seeking Opportunity!
• Kayla Hack (@HackKayla). Send Me. Cooperating Center: Pequea Valley HS;
  Post Graduate Plans: New Wayne Highlands (PA) Agriscience Teacher!
• Miranda Kane (@mir_kane). No Kane, No Gain. Cooperating Center: Greenwood HS (Millerstown, PA); Post Graduate Plans: Seeking Opportunity!
• Nathan Repetz (@N8_Repetz). Firing on all Cylinders. Cooperating Center: Central Columbia HS (Bloomsburg, PA); Post Graduate Plans: Seeking Opportunity!
• Matthew Rider (@mvr5027). Erudition’s Neck of Woods. Cooperating Center: Tyrone Area HS; Post Graduate Plans: Seeking Opportunity!
• Matt Snyder (@snyder6878). Growing Roots in Dirty Boots. Cooperating Center: Mifflinburg HS; Post Graduate Plans: Returning to Penn State!
• Evelyn Zaleksi (@CuteEvyAnn). Finding our Purpose. Cooperating Center: McGuffey H.S; Post Graduate Plans: Seeking Opportunity!