Monday, November 16, 2020

2020 November AEE Student of the Month: Gabrielle Kriley

The Center for Professional Personnel Development would like to congratulate the 2020 November Agricultural & Extension Education Student of the Month: Gabrielle Kriley! We recognize students each month who show outstanding involvement and growth as a student of the major. This month Gabrielle Kriley of Rural Valley, Pennsylvania, who is a junior majoring in Agricultural & Extension Education, and was chosen as she has excelled throughout her journey at Penn State.

Gabrielle graduated from Lenape Technical School with a focus in  Natural Resources Technology before coming to Penn State, where she attended the New Kensington Campus for 2 years. During high school, she was involved in the Lenape Technical School FFA where she served leadership positions and attended leadership conferences. She was also greatly involved in the Ruff Riders 4-H Club which established her love for 4-H, and she was a part of the Armstrong Teen Leadership Council. This year she has arrived at Penn State, University Park and she has enjoyed gaining new experiences in Happy Valley. Some of those would include her favorite place to hang out on campus which is The HUB, and her favorite place to eat at, Quaker Steak and Lube. In addition to these favorites, her hobbies include fishing, swimming, hiking, horseback riding, spending time with friends & family, and snuggling her dog Peanut. The best PSU class she has taken so far was Biology 220W which focused on the environment through several hands-on labs and even encouraged her to conduct her own research on creating a pollinator garden. 

Penn State was made for Gabrielle as she shares it was the best school to get a degree combining education and agriculture. "I was raised to be active in 4-H, which was strongly supported by Penn State. Through 4-H, I had many opportunities to see the campus and meet various staff and faculty members. I also had the amazing opportunity to attend the Pennsylvania School for Excellence in the Agricultural Sciences which is the program that provided the opportunity to experience college classes in person while also providing the opportunity to meet faculty, staff, the campus, all while making new friends who also have the goal of one day attending college. This made my love for Penn State grow to the point this was my dream school and I would do whatever it would take to get accepted into the university!" She has found her home at Penn State and is thankful for the opportunities she has been provided with.

The experiences she gained while at the New Kensington Campus should not go unnoticed as she has shared the positive impact it has made on her life. "I absolutely loved the beautiful campus! At that campus, I met my best friend, and my life has been flipped around for the better. If I were to tell you about my experiences at that campus, we could be here for days. I truly had an amazing experience at my commonwealth campus." While at New Kensington she was involved in THON, the Student Government Association, a work-study job in the Biology Department, and a research study. These opportunities have helped shaped her future of becoming an Agricultural Educator.

One day wanting to Teach Ag in the classroom Gabrielle shares her passion for agriculture. "My goal is to be a teacher that impacts my students in a positive manner, just like mine had done. I had so many amazing teachers and what better way to honor their impact than by becoming one? Not only will I become a normal teacher, teaching something that I like, but rather by teaching our future generation of agriculture, I will be teaching on a topic that I love! If we need food, clothes, or shelter, we will need agriculture! Once I reach retirement, I intend to move to another country to serve as a missionary, teaching about agriculture in foreign countries to help them where their agriculture may be struggling. If I have the knowledge, I will share it with the world!"

Gabrielle also shared some unique parts about herself that help to keep her motivated as a student and person. "I am a student who has been diagnosed with ADD and Dyslexia. Life can be very challenging when you have things that are a roadblock, but I have learned that anything can be a roadblock, but it takes a special amount of determination to make that roadblock into a pebble. My disabilities have not defined me within my personal or academic life and they never will!" As you can tell, this young lady does not let many things set her back from working to achieve her goals and aspirations.

Gabrielle has accomplished so much and we are proud of how far she has come and excited to see where life continues to take her after Penn State. As she plans to Teach Ag in the classroom, her experiences in 4-H, at Penn State and many others will serve her well. Best of luck on the rest of your journey year. To check out more about Gabrielle, follow her Instagram handle @gabrielle_mae128!








Morgan Bear
CPPD Student Worker
Agricultural & Extension Education
Class of 2023

Monday, November 2, 2020

Two AEE Students Selected for the Ag Future of America (AFA) Leaders Conference



Nina Coolidge and Nicole Guise have been selected and awarded a scholarship to attend the virtual Ag Future of America (AFA) Leaders Conference during November 11-14, 2020. "This program bridges the gap between academic, leadership, and work experiences while helping students understand the impact of their decisions." This year the opportunities include a 1:1 Professional and Peer Networking Session, Virtual Opportunity Fair, Personalized Curriculum, and On-Demand Sessions. These include Plant/Cell Based Meat, Impact of the Election on Food and Agriculture, and Sustainability and Conservation. Both of these students have filled out an application and submitted resumes including internships, club involvement, and references to be selected for this award. We are proud to have them both as Agricultural & Extension Education students at Penn State! 


The first recipient is Nina Coolidge a freshman at the University Park campus. She shares how she found the AFA conference, "I found out about this opportunity through Collegiate Cattlewomen’s Club here at Penn State. I attended a meeting where the AFA Conference was brought up and it sounded like a good opportunity." Nina plans to use this opportunity to better prepare her for her future in Agriculture Education. "Overall, I hope to gain a better knowledge of the agricultural industry, so I can take my knowledge into my own classroom once I become an agricultural educator. I would love to gain connections with agricultural industry partners that may possibly lead to future internships." Nina is excited to connect with other students from across the country and enhance her agriculture knowledge. During the conference she also hopes to gain lasting connections with industry partners. As a freshman, this is a great accomplishment and we look forward to hearing how the experience goes for Nina.


Nicole Guise has also been accepted to participate in this conference. Nicole is a senior majoring in Agricultural and Extension Education. She learned about the opportunity to attend this conference through a friend who graduated from Penn State last year, and was very involved in AFA and highly recommended it to her. She is hoping to gain content knowledge in areas where she is unfamiliar with and heading into student teaching she has some topics she would like to brush up on. Nicole shares "Hopefully, some new and creative ideas will come out of the information presented and I can incorporate it into my lesson and unit planning. " Although the conference is being held virtually this year, Nicole has been grateful of this so that she can still attend during a busy and important semester and not have to travel and take time away from classes. Nicole is most excited to meet students from other states across the country. She is looking forward to connecting with professional organizations at the opportunity fair as well. "NAAE will also be at the opportunity fair so I am excited to meet with people from the profession to learn more about how to leverage this experience in my student teaching and teaching career." With many things going on this semester, Nicole continues to find opportunities that push her to become a better leader. 

Both of these ladies have excelled in taking opportunities available in the College of Agriculture Sciences at Penn State to better themselves. They have bright futures a head of them and we are happy to have this opportunity awarded to students in our major. Congratulations again on being selected to attend the AFA Leaders Conference, we hope you have a great experience!








Morgan Bear
CPPD Student Worker
Agricultural & Extension Education
Class of 2023