Janae McMichael Receives National Award from NAAE

Congratulations Janae Herr McMichael! A Penn State Agriculture and Extension Education alum (#psuaged16) has received a National Teacher Turn the Key Award from the National Association of Agriculture Educators (NAAE). She will be recognized at the NAAE Convention in San Antonio, TX in November. 

Janae is currently an agriscience teacher at Lampter-Strasburg High School in Lancaster, PA. She completed her student teaching experience at Midd-West High School with David Bittner (#psuaged07) as her cooperating teacher. 

Janae believes that receiving this award provides a role model experience for her students as well as inspired her to become a mentor pre-service or new and beginning teachers utilize the tools and resources she had gained from this award program. She has fallen in love with this profession, and finds it rewarding even though there are long days. She states, "I’ve learned the extreme benefit from the pursuit of professional development experiences to help me be better for my students." Janae loves watching her students identify themselves with a career choice. "I have loved watching my students finally realize their passion and skill set and fall in love with their work," she exclaimed.

Her advice for those who are entering the Agriculture and Extension Education major is to seize the moment. "Your plate will likely always be full, but take advantages of the opportunities put in front of you to better yourself. Attend the workshop. Listen to the podcast. Join the webinar. Read the article. Ask the hard questions. Ask yourself frequently, what did I today, this week or this month to make myself better for the sake of my students?"

We are very proud of you Janae! We are excited to see the impact you make in your students' lives as well as the community around you! Congratulations on receiving the National Teachers Turn the Key Award through the NAAE!

Luke Kerstetter

Communications Team Member

Twitter Handle: @Luke_Kerstetter

2020 Agriculture Education Student Teacher

September 2018 Student of the Month: Manny Catala (@MCatala35)

Each month we like to highlight students that have gone above and beyond in their involvement in the agriculture education program at PSU! We are proud to announce that Manny Catala was selected as September's Student of the Month! Let's learn about his adventure and accomplishments so far.

Manny is currently a senior majoring in Agriculture and Extension Education, a member of the #psuaged19 cohort. He will be student teaching this spring at Pequea Valley High School with Doug Masser and Jasmine VanSant. Manny was an FFA member, and his journey lead him to be the State Star in Agribusiness and a State FFA Officer (State President). He also competed in ten Career Development Events over the course of high school, and obtaining his American Degree. 

Fun Facts about Manny

Hometown: Brentwood, New Hampshire

Graduation: 2019

Favorite PSU Class: AgEd2Malaysia (AEE 499)

Favorite Sports Team: PSU CrewFavorite Hangout on Favorite Hangout on Campus: HUB

Favorite Thing at PSU: Dunkin Donuts

Favorite Place to eat in State College: Green Bowl

We would like to congratulate Manny for his accomplishments, and wish him the best of luck as he prepares for student teaching this spring! We can't wait to see all the success you have this spring!

Luke Kerstetter

Communication Team Member

Twitter Handle: @Luke_Kerstetter

2020 Agriculture Education Student Teacher

Recap: Penn State and the 2018 Big E!

Pennsylvania FFA members proudly display the Sweepstakes Banner, awarded to
the state with the collective score of CDE's and LDE's for the weekend.
The sweepstakes was a tie between Ohio and Pennsylvania this year. 

This past weekend our Penn State students traveled to Massachusetts with The LEAD Society at Penn State to be a part of the Eastern States Exposition, referred to as The Big E. This on from September 14th to the 30th. During the first weekend of The Big E, FFA members from all over the Eastern Region travel to the fairgrounds to compete in Career Development Events and Leadership Development Events (CDEs and LDEs respectively). Almost 900 students from 20 different states make an appearance at the fair. For some of them, this is an opportunity to hone their skills before competing at National Convention. For others, it's just another chance to engage with FFA members from across the Nation and enjoy the fair's atmosphere.

Justin says he enjoyed seeing
extemporaneous pubic speaking
now as a judge instead of a participant.

Every year Penn State students travel to the Big E to help run the CDEs and LDEs that are held throughout the weekend. Through this unique opportunity, our students get hands-on experience facilitating a wide variety of events and get to practice giving constructive feedback to FFA members that compete. Our students assisted in the Extemporaneous Public Speaking, Veterinary Sciences, Poultry Evaluation, and Environment & Natural Resources competitions.

Justin Kurtz, current member of #psuaged22 was one of three Penn Staters who served as judges for the Extemporaneous Speaking competition held Friday afternoon. He comments, "Today was great. Honestly, the favorite part of today was seeing a demonstration of growth by youth in agriculture while judging the extemporaneous speaking competition; the power you have as a authoritative role to make a positive impact on someone else's life."


The Big E was a great opportunity for our members to gain experience in facilitation and delivering constructive feedback. Especially for our Agricultural and Extension Education majors, these are areas that they'll be working in for the rest of their careers. For those students not heading off to be an Agricultural teacher the experiences of this past weekend were equally important. Libby Baker-Mikesell, a Plant Science major, is aspiring to be an environmental educator with a focus in soil and water conservation. Libby was facilitating and grading the soil science portion of the Environment & Natural Resources CDE and served as a judge for Extemporaneous Public Speaking. She says that, "..being able to judge CDEs like extemporaneous public speaking and environment and natural resources allowed me to gain a better understanding of the knowledge base present in today's youth while reinforcing the importance of hands-on experiential learning". 

Some of our Extemporaneous Public Speaking facilitators
and judges that helped with the event.

The weekend was topped off at the awards banquet on Saturday night, where we got to hear from Erica Baier, National FFA Secretary, as she delivered her keynote speech about her experience in high school FFA and the importance of persistence that she learned after competing in her own CDEs. The winners of the CDEs and LDEs were announced, as was the presentation of the Sweepstakes Banner, awarded to the state that collectively had the highest ranking in all competitions over the course of the weekend.

This year the sweepstakes winner was a tie between Pennsylvania and Ohio (oh no!), but as you can see in the first image, we go our share of the prize and a pretty great picture! Thomas Gabel, another member of #psuaged22, sums up the weekend perfectly:

 "...nothing is better than students being recognized for their successes and it was great to help facilitate an environment in which they could compete and achieve success and growth." 

What a great weekend for our LEAD Society members!

Want to read more about the Big E?

• Student Organization Spotlight: Collegiate FFA Experiences Big E!
• An Adventure to New England: The 2014 Big E Trip! 

Hunter Kauffman

Team Leader, @TeachAgPSU Communications

Wildlife and Fisheries Science

College of Agricultural Sciences

@TeachAgPSU #psuaged19 members National Award Winners!

Lisa Boltz

22 students from across the United States had received the Upper Division Scholarship from the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE). Their efforts in academic performance, leadership, service, and passion to become an agricultural educator has allowed them to qualify for this scholarship. Penn State has three students that were selected to receive this scholarship Lisa Boltz, Victoria Herr, and Ryan Rupert. Each of them will receive $1,500 to offset their expenses during their student teaching experience this spring.

Ryan Rupert

Since 2010 Penn State has submitted 27 applicants and had 20 national award winners, and this is the fourth year in a row that Penn State has had 100% of applicants receive this scholarship! The scholarship amount per student it $1,500, this represents $30,000 secured from NAAE since 2010 to advance our candidates' teacher education. Of our 20 national winners, 16 of them are currently teaching in high school programs.

Lisa Boltz will be student teaching at Dover Area High School, Victoria Herr will be student teaching at Penns Manor High School, and Ryan Rupert will be student teaching at Greenwood High School.

Victoria Herr

The funding for this scholarship came from Growth Energy, National Geographic Learning | Delmar Cengage Learning, and donations from Herman and Bobbie Wilson. Growth Energy as stated in their mission statement "represents the producers and supporters of ethanol, who feed the world and fuel America in ways that achieve energy independence, improve economic well-being, and create a healthier environment for all Americans now." National Geographic Learning is a part of Cengage Learning and they, "believe that an engaged and motivated learner will be a successful one, and they design our materials with a highly interactive storytelling approach which is a great way to invoke these connections."

The NAAE is a professional organization in mission to provide advancements to agricultural education, grow agricultural educators, recruit and prepare future agricultural educators that have a passion to teach. They provide their 7,800 members with resources that can be used inside the classroom as well as professional development through conferences and conventions. The mission of the NAAE is, "Professionals providing agricultural education for the global community through visionary leadership, advocacy and service."

Luke Kerstetter

Communications Team Member

Twitter Handle: @Luke_Kerstetter

2020 Agriculture Education Student Teacher

Penn State Alum to receive the Honorary American Degree

Mr. Paul Heasley has taught at SCASD for 24 years, and
been an FFA advisor for 36 years.
Photo courtesy of scasd.org

Mr. Paul Heasley has been teaching in the State College Area School District for 24 years, and has been an FFA advisor for 36 years. Back in October of 2017, during his last year of teaching, Mr. Heasley was honored as a distinguished alumnus of the State College Area School District. Now, one year later, he will be recognized again for his time and dedication to his thousands of students and to Agricultural Education as a whole as he receives the Honorary American Degree through the National FFA Organization.

Mr. Heasley grew up right here in Happy Valley, graduating from State College Area High School in 1975 and graduating from The Pennsylvania State University several years later. Mr. Heasley has had incredible success as an agricultural teacher and an FFA advisor, shaping thousands of lives through his career by implementing high-quality agricultural education programs and showing dedication that reaches far beyond the classroom. During his time as an agricultural science teacher and FFA advisor, Mr. Heasley has acquired over $500,000 in grant money to offer opportunity and growth for his students and, in turn, the surrounding community.

Outside of the classroom, Mr. Heasley has been involved all around the Commonwealth working with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Soil Conservation Service, and serving on The Pennsylvania State University's Agricultural and Extension Education Advisory Committee. He's been able to advise and evaluate over 200 Agricultural and Extension Education students at The Pennsylvania State University who are now teaching students of their own. One of his greatest accomplishments was earning the Centre County Grange Fair's "Friend of the Fair" award, which he received in 2015 for his countless years of devotion to the annual event which is one of the largest grange fairs in the country.

Mr. Heasley teaching students about electric arc welding.
Photo courtesy of scasd.org 

He adds that, "...teaching Agricultural Sciences is more than a job or career - it is a lifestyle and holds so many rewards other than just a paycheck or other teaching positions. You become part of so many of your students' lives and families that will provide many benefits beyond the classroom walls."

The Honorary American Degree is the highest award an adult can receive through the National FFA Organization. There are quite a few boxes that need to be checked before someone is eligible to receive this award, and those that are nominated to receive the award by their state association have made great contributions to Agricultural Education and the FFA. More details about the award can be found here.

After being an agricultural teacher for over 30 years, we asked Mr. Heasley if he has any advice to share for current and new teachers and FFA advisors. He says that it's important to, "work at being the "lead learner" in your classroom as you grow professionally in the latest technologies found in the Ag industry. Become a part of your community and take leadership roles in Ag groups and PAAE." Staying ahead of the curve and staying connected to those you serve is an important part of being a teacher.

To make this honor even more bittersweet, Mr. Heasley will be receiving his Honorary American Degree alongside two of his former students receiving their American Degrees at the National FFA Convention in October. This student award is the is the highest award that can be given to an FFA member by the National FFA Organization, and analogous to the award Mr. Heasley will be receiving.

Both of these students, Megan Royer and Justin Kurtz, are pursuing degrees in Agricultural and Extension Education from Penn State. Megan thinks it's only appropriate that Mr. Heasley will be with them both in October; "I think it's fitting that he's getting it [the American Degree] with us, because I wouldn't be receiving my American Degree without him and who he's been. Everyone always says he's like the grandfather you've always needed... ...he really is awesome."

During his time as an FFA Advisor, Mr. Heasley now has taught two past Pennsylvania FFA State Officers and four American Degree Recipients.

Mr. Heasley, along with Pennsylvania's three other recipients of the Honorary American Degree, will be receiving this award at the 91st National FFA Convention and Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana, taking place from October 24th - 27th, 2018.