Tuesday, April 30, 2019

2019 LEAD Society Teach Ag! Essay Contest - Finalist Announcement


The time has come to announce the four finalists for the 2019 LEAD Society Teach Ag! Essay Contest! These "final four" participants will be recognized on-stage at the 90th Pennsylvania FFA State Convention. This year, we had thirteen participants, representing nine schools from across the state of Pennsylvania.


Participants were able to step into the role of an agriculture teacher for a day and instruct a class on a topic of their choosing. Following the 2019 contest theme, "To Infinity and Beyond", students were asked to include in their lessons a connection to how agriculture is working to meet growing global demands by the year 2050. After their teaching experience, participants were then asked to write a 300-500 word essay on the prompt "How can agricultural education meet the growing global demands in the year 2050?"


We are proud of this contest and its ability to allow students to experience what it is like to be an agricultural educator. Each participant will also receive a LEAD Society Teach Ag! Essay Contest T-shirt and is invited to attend an ice cream social during the Pennsylvania FFA State Convention.

Our four finalists will be receiving gift cards for the National FFA Shop and the first place winner will receive free registration to a 2019 FFA event of their choosing!

And now, in no particular order, we are proud to announce the four finalists of the 2019 LEAD Society Teach Ag! Essay Contest:

Cheyenne Bastian-Brown 
Canton High School 
Canton FFA
Agriscience Teacher: Mr. Thomas Hojnowksi

Jessica Herr
Lampeter-Strasburg High School 
Garden Spot FFA
Agriscience Teachers: Ms. K. Janae McMichael and Ms. Holly Oberholtzer

Amanda Hamilton
Cumberland Valley High School
Cumberland Valley FFA
Agriscience Teachers: Ms. Jeanne Case and Ms. Darla Romberger

Brandon Bixler
Garden Spot High School
Grassland FFA
Agriscience Teachers: Ms. Ashley Pierson and Ms. Katherine Ranck


Congratulations to these finalists and all participants! The final results will be announced at the opening session of the Pennsylvania FFA State Convention on Tuesday, June 11th. Congratulations all!





Thomas Gabel
Public Relations Director
LEAD Society
#PSUAgEd22
Twitter Handle: @gabel_thomas




Monday, April 22, 2019

#psuaged19 is back in the Valley!

Our 2019 Penn State Agricultural Education Student Teachers (#psuaged19 on Twitter - Check it out!) returned this week for their post-internship seminar! They have spent the past fifteen weeks completing the 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. Your assistance helps us achieve our core values as an agricultural teacher education program

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/2019/03/psuaged19-ready-to-serve.html

As a group, the #psuaged19 Interns:

  • Taught 51 different classes to students from 7th to 12th grades that ranged from 42-minutes long to 90 minutes long!
  • Delivered 111 units of instruction on topics related to leadership development, agricultural mechanics, environmental and natural resources, plant sciences, animal sciences, and much more!
  • Impacted the lives of 747 individual students
  • Helped their cooperating centers earn and implement over $36,000 of extramural funding assisted from grants, sponsorships, and fundraisers
  • Lead students in over 2000 hours of community service
  • Has earned (or will) earn degrees in 3 different areas including Bachelors of Science in Agricultural and Extension Education, Associates of Sciences in Wildlife Technology, Associates in Integrated Agricultural Management.
  • Obtained minors in 4 areas including: Animal Science, International Agriculture, Political Science and Special Education.
  • Participated in Global Learning in 6 countries, including Belize, Costa Rica, Ireland, Malaysia, Mexico, and Switzerland.
  • Earned 26 different Additional Certifications/Accreditation/Licenses, including(listed alphabetically): Accredited Parliamentarians from the Society of Agricultural Education Parliamentarians; Beef Quality Assurance; First Aid/CPR/AED Certification; FlipGrid Level 1;  Food Science ServSafe Certification; Google Educator, LEED Green Associate; Mandated Reporter Training; National Safe Tractor and Machinery Operation Instructors; OSHA 10-hr Safety Course in Construction Safety and Health; Paideia's Socrative Seminar; Pork Quality Assurance; Project Food, Land People; Project WILD; Project WET, Sheep Quality Assurance.
  • Completed 9 custom learning projects (DIY Teacher Education) for their center, including:
    • A guide to Advisory Occupational Council Minutes
    • Securing effective grants
    • Preparing an Agricultural Special Needs Course: Horticulture
    • Developing action plans for 339 Success
    • Social Networking for Professional Development
    • Padeia Socratic Seminar.
  • Involved in 15 professional organizations, including(listed alphabetically): Alpha Tau Alpha, National Agricultural Education Honorary; Association of Career & Technical Education;   College of Agricultural Science Ag Advocate; Coaly Society, PSU; Collegiate 4-H, Penn State; Collegiate FFA , Penn State;  Gamma Sigma Delta; Maryland Agricultural Teachers Association (MATA);  National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE);  National Association of Parliamentarians (NAP); Pennsylvania Association of Agricultural Educators (PAAE); Pennsylvania Farm Bureau; Pennsylvania FFA Alumni; Teach Ag! Society, Penn State; Wildlife Society, Penn State.
  • Gained experience or have been employed with over 15 different relevant jobs/Internships including (listed alphabetically):  Calico Creek Feed and Pet; Center for Professional and Personal Development, Penn State; Elk Country Visitors Center; Farm Camp Counselor; Global Teach Ag! Initiative, Penn State; Hershey Gardens; Organic Dairy Farm at University of New Hampshire; Lehigh Valley Zoo; Pennsylvania FFA Association; Pennsylvania Farm Bureau; PSU Extension - Indiana County; PSU Extension - State 4-H Office; Shaver’s Creek Outdoor School; 

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Pennsylvania Ag Teacher "Turns the Key" to Success!

With a continued shortage of Agricultural Educators, it is imperative that new and beginning teachers are encouraged to stay in the profession. For this reason, the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) has created the “Teachers Turn the Key” program and a scholarship to support an individual from each state to be involved! 

This award is given to teachers in their 2nd-5th year of teaching (at the time of the NAAE National Convention) that show great promise and interest in participating in a program to grow themselves as positive agents of change. This year, Katherine (Katie) Ranck will be representing the Pennsylvania Association of Agricultural Educators (PAAE) at the NAAE National Convention in December!

Katie, a member of #psuaged16 is currently in her third year of teaching at Garden Spot High School in New Holland, PA. She is deserving of this award because of her active engagement in the professional community encompassed within Agricultural Education. In fact, it is this community, or “village” as she calls it that she appreciates most as an educator. Katie says: “One piece of my career that I am extremely grateful for is my personal and professional village and the endless support and encouragement they have provided me. These are the people whom I need to be able to even have a vision to advance agriculture education in my local community and school.” Despite only being in her third year of the profession, Katie has found the support network that motivates teachers to stay involved in Pennsylvania Agricultural Education, which is also the goal of the "Teachers Turn the Key” professional development program.

Katie says that she has continued to learn even in the teacher role. Her advice to current #PSUTeachAg students is to “Remember that Rome is not built overnight, but it was built. The foundation you set for yourself is what you build from.” Also, it is important that as a professional you are “being intentional about building positive relationships among colleagues, administrators, school personnel, and community members.”


#PSUTeachAg is ecstatic to see Katie’s successes and hopes that her village continues to grow! We wish her luck as she represents PAAE in December at the NAAE National Convention!


Keep turning the keys that unlock the potential of Pennsylvania Agricultural Education! 


To learn more about the "Teachers Turn the Key" program and scholarship, visit the NAAE website!




Justin Kurtz
#PSUAgEd22
Twitter Handle: @JustinDKurtz

Monday, April 8, 2019

Tips for Public Engagement!

As we immerse ourselves in the warmer weather and blooming flowers, many of us are gearing up for the various recruitment events, involvement fairs, and conventions that take place throughout the spring and summer. Public events can be successful, engaging arenas to promote your program, or - at the very least - get it into the public's eye. If you've ever attended an event for the purpose of recruiting or showcasing your agricultural, 4-H, or FFA program, you should make sure that you're getting the most out of your time and effort! Here's a little bit of wisdom that I've collected throughout the years and used in my own life:

1. Be Energetic.

We've all seen the table at the county fair with the representatives sitting down in the chairs behind the table... not talking... waiting for the public to come to them. Heck, I know I've been guilty of doing this at one point or another. A big mistake on my part. What I've figured out over the years is that chairs are not for sitting. You want to be out in front of your table, interacting with people, being energetic! Make a reason for people to come up and talk to you - unless if someone is specifically seeking out your program, very few people will be willing to walk up and talk to you if you're hidden away behind your table and disengaged from the event you're at. That chair is for your backpack or your box of recruiting materials, not for you to sit in!


2. Be Relevant to Your Audience.

Part of getting someone invested in what you have to say is being relevant to them. Think of the first time you talk to someone approaching your booth as an interview. That person is essentially interviewing you to figure out if you will be a good fit for them. Here's where that 30-second elevator pitch, that we've all been told to have prepared, comes in handy. Introduce yourself, then have that short pitch for your audience that showcases what your organization is about and why they should care! At the same time ask people questions, learn about them, figure out where their interest lie, and be energetic.  From there, you'll probably be able to identify something that you or the organization that you're representing does that aligns with those interests. If you're willing to engage with the people that are there, they're going to be more willing to engage with you.


3. Be Creative.

Nobody is captivated by a boring table with pamphlets and posters laying on it. If you have the ability to be interactive, plan some sort of activity, idea, or engagement piece that will bring people to your table. Interactive activities are fantastic, especially if you can develop one that showcases something about your organization. For example, if you're representing the local 4-H, plan an activity that involves environmental science, plant and animal science, or STEM. Maybe you can showcase an electrical engineering project a 4-H student created, or have people engage in a gardening activity with something they can take home with them. If you're exhibiting your agricultural program, show off some of the great work your students have done in the greenhouse or in the wood shop. People are much more likely to remember an activity they engaged in or a cool project they saw than a pamphlet.


4. Be Prepared With Contact Information

Make sure to have business cards, flyers, or some sort of way for people to reach you or your program. If someone is interested in the event you're planning or the program you're representing, they need to have a way to find out more information! I've been to a lot of job fairs and recruitment events where very few booths were giving out business cards, let alone any way to reach out to them. What if that student walks away and forgets your meeting time? What if they go home and forget how they can find you or your program? Granted, people know how to Google, but there's nothing quite like handing someone a business card and making that one-on-one connection in-person (and let's be honest, does your program come up on the first page of Google when you search it?).


5. Be Ready for Questions.

Odds are, there's at least a few questions that you frequently get about your organization. Be prepared to answer these questions beforehand. A good strategy I like to use is to sit down and think about all the questions that someone might ask me at an open house or recruiting event, and write out my answers to them. This is a good exercise in being prepared for the inevitable, "isn't FFA all about farming", or "4-H is the arts and crafts club, right?" that might come about from people who don't know much about your organization. Going back to #2, you can even tie in what your organization is about in your elevator pitch so people get the right impression from the start. Basically, you want to have a concise, professional response to any question that might be thrown at you.



That's it - just five short tips that have helped me immensely throughout the past few years of representing and recruiting. This advice can be extended way beyond just representing and recruiting; think about these tips any time and anywhere you represent your program!




 


Hunter Kauffman
Team Leader, @TeachAgPSU Communications
Wildlife and Fisheries Science
College of Agricultural Sciences

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

April 2019 Student of the Month: Kaitlin Liszka (@KaitlinLiszka)

Every month we recognize a student within the Agricultural and Extension Education program who has gone above and beyond as our Student of the Month. Junior, Kaitlin Liska has been selected as the April Student of the Month! Let’s dive into why we have chosen Kaitlin to be the Student of the Month! 

Kaitlin proudly comes to us at Penn State from Jamestown, Pennsylvania. Kaitlin is a member of the #PSUAgEd20 cohort with a unique start to her college education. Kaitlin was inspired to pursue Agriculture Education while attending the Ohio State University studying animal science. When asked about her inspiration she responds, “I spent a lot of time helping my friends and classmates understand what was being taught in class. I also would get to bring the knowledge I was learning back home and get to share it with others. It was in these moments that I realized that I really enjoyed informing and teaching others about the agricultural industry, even more than I did working directly in industry. My friends also began to recognize this and pushed me to pursue agricultural education instead of animal science, so when I transferred into Penn State it was an easy decision to change my major.” We are truly glad to have Kaitlin here supporting her fellow classmates. 

Outside of the classroom, Kaitlin serves in the United States Army, is an active member of the Leadership, Education, and Agricultural Development (LEAD) Society, and a Global Teach Ag! Intern. 

If you want to learn more about Katlin, you can follow her on her Twitter @KaitlinLiszka or Instagram @KaitlinLiszka. Congratulations again Kaitlin, keep rocking it out! 

A peek of Kaitlin: 
Hometown: Jamestown, PA 
Graduation: May 2020 
Birthday: Dec 8, 1995 
Favorite PSU Class: AEE 349 
Favorite Sports Team: Pittsburgh Steelers 
Favorite Hang-Out on Campus: Ferguson 213 
Favorite Place to Eat in State College: State Burger (Bellefonte) 
4-H/FFA Background: 4H - Market animals 
Favorite Quote: "People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel." ~Maya Angelou 



Killiann George 
Guest Blogger 
Twitter Handle: @KilliannGeorge 
2022 Agricultural Education Student Teacher