Recap: Farm Show Ag Ed Recruitment Event

PSU Teach Ag Avenger team, faculty, and professors talking with FFA students 

Penn State Teach Ag started the new year off with a bang at the Pennsylvania in Harrisburg PA! On Monday January 7th the Penn State Teach Ag Avenger team put on a workshop for 15 high-school students interested in teaching the future of agriculture. Throughout this workshop, students had the opportunity to as questions, and learn about what it means to study agricultural and extension education, and what it’s like to be a Penn State student. Students heard from current students, faculty, and professors of the Agricultural and Extension Education program to get an inside look at the opportunities Teach Ag at Penn State has to offer. 

One of the main discussions we had with students was that every single person involved in agricultural education has their own path. Luke Kerstetter, Teach Ag Avenger and current member of #psuaged20 said this about the event "Everyone has a different story behind their interests in Agricultural Education. It may be very diverse, but we all have the same goal in mind”.

This event was also held on the same day as the Pennsylvania FFA Mid-Winter Convention where 409 Keystone Degrees were awarded, and 365 first-year members put on their blue corduroy jackets for the first time. Seeing the impact that FFA and agricultural education has on so many students certainly was moving and truly was an amazing thing to watch.

Students at Mid-Winter Convention putting on their brand new FFA jackets for the first time. 

This was also the first day of student teaching for #psuaged19. Seeing the student teachers in action was such an awesome experience. Jess Barnhart, Teach Ag Avenger, and member of #psuaged20 said “I’d like to shine a light on our student teachers at Mid-Winter Convention. They truly were immersed in all that Ag Ed is really about by having that hands-on experience with their students.”

While speaking at Mid-Winter Convention, Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera said: “today’s FFA members are tomorrow’s industry and community leaders”. Here at Penn State, we are proud to play a role in helping to develop those future leaders within FFA.

Erin Langdale

Communications Team Member

Twitter: @ItsErinLangdale

Agricultural Education Student Teacher 2020