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The weekend of April 13-15 was an eventful one for Penn State Teach Ag as we hosted an exchange program with Michigan State University. Six students from Michigan State’s Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources Education Club came to learn more about Penn State and our Agricultural and Extension Education program. The weekend filled with exciting tours, fellowship, and swapping of ag ed stories was all made possible by LEAD Society and the Center for Professional Personnel Development.

The festivities kicked off with breakfast at The Waffle Shop, a Happy Valley classic. The group then had a tour of campus to learn more about our history and traditions. After exploring campus, we hopped on a big blue bus and were off to begin our day of tours.

First stop, the Mushroom Research Center, to meet with the manager, Dr. John Pecchia. John shared so much with us and we were interested to learn about the practices that help PA mushroom producers to produce 2/3 of the country’s mushrooms!

Our next stop was the Poultry Education and Research Center. Manager, Scott Kephart, was kind enough to take time out of his weekend to share with our group. We enjoyed touring the six buildings that make up the facility and learning more about the research and work that goes on there.

The lovely spring weather was perfect for a picnic so we enjoyed our lunch break at the arboretum! And in true Penn State fashion, we followed up with a trip to Berkey Creamery. After explaining the no mixing rule and making our way through the line, our group took advantage of the sunshine and enjoyed our ice cream. Some of the MSU students even admitted that Berkey Creamery ice cream beats their Dairy Store’s ice cream!

Back on the big blue bus we piled and headed out to see where our ice cream ingredients came from, the Dairy Barns. We all enjoyed meeting with the students who live and work there and learning about their day-to-day at the barns. I’ll have to admit though, our favorite part was definitely hanging out with all of the calves.

Speaking of cute baby animals, our next tour was of Penn State’s Equine Facilities where we got the chance to meet this year’s group of foals. The students who work there explained to us how their annual sale operates and all of the work that goes into it.

Our last tour was just across the street at the one and only, Beaver Stadium. Assistant Athletic Fields Supervisor, Nate Miller, took us right onto the field and explained the ins and outs of turf management. Not only was this tour interesting and informative, a few of us (*me) were definitely fan- girling over having the whole stadium to ourselves. 

After a long day of tours, we had one last stop before dinner, the Ferguson building. Jon Seaman, Program Manager, had a fun and informative workshop waiting for us; 3-D Printing in Ag Education. We all enjoyed learning more about how 3-D printing can be used in agricultural education and I know the MSU students were excited to receive their very own Spartan cookie cutters.

We wrapped up a long day with dinner at The Corner Room, another State College classic, and then a movie night.

Sunday morning, after reflecting over breakfast, our guests packed up and headed home to East Lansing.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend and we can’t wait to visit Michigan State in the fall!

A huge thank you shoutout to those who were willing to lead our tours, LEAD Society and the Center for Professional Personnel Development for their financial support, the students who participated and hosted, and Ms. Terra Ingram for her incredible help behind the scenes.

Victoria Herr

Guest Blogger

Twitter Handle: @Victoria_Herr

2019 Agriculture Student Teacher Candidate