CPPD October Student of the Month- Mckenzie Mahler!

AEE October Student of the Month

The Center for Professional Personnel Development would like to congratulate Mckenzie Mahler on being recognized as the October AEE Student of the Month. She has showed exemplary efforts within her academic and extracurricular involvement. 

Mckenzie is Senior majoring in Agricultural and Extension Education with a minor in International Agriculture. Her future plans include either working in a high school agricultural education program or in a local extension office. Mckenzie chose Penn State because of the many opportunities that are offered to preservice agriculture educators.

Mayan Ruins in Belize

She is from Somerset, Pennsylvania and attended Somerset Area High School. Mckenzie was involved in 4-H and FFA for many years. She was apart of the Steaks and Chops 4-H Club for six years and served as the Secretary. She was also a member of the Somerset Area FFA Chapter and held the officer positions of President, Vice-President, and Sentinel. She served as the President, Vice-President, and Treasurer of the Somerset County FFA Association. Through her experiences in these organizations she participated in raising market lambs and goats as well as various career and leadership development events.

 

Teaching for a week in Montana for GOALs

On campus, Mckenzie has been involved in the Teach Ag! Avengers for the past year and is a Global Teach Ag Network Undergraduate Intern. Also while at Penn State, she has been a part of the Global Orientation to Agriculture Learning Program (GOALs) which provide pre-service agriculture educators with an opportunity to receive an international teaching experience. In addition, she took AEE 499 which was an embedded course that allowed her to travel to Belize for 10 days to learn about agricultural education. Her favorite class that she had taken at Penn State has been AEE 349 which is Shop Processes for Agricultural Educators. 

When asked about her passion or specific interest in agriculture Mckenzie says, "I would like to think that I truly have an interest in every agricultural content area. Admittingly, I am very passionate about all things plants, horticulture, and floriculture, however, I enjoy learning about all areas of the industry." She enjoys growing and propagating plants and dreams to run her own greenhouse someday.

Building Kestrel Boxes in AEE 349

Some other interesting things about Mckenzie are that she completed an internship as a Direct Support Professional for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Her favorite place to hangout on campus is in Ferguson building room 214. She enjoys going to Otto's in State College to eat. Mckenzie's hobbies include growing and propagating plants, reading books, and listening to true crime podcasts. Mckenzie also has a dog named Buddy who came to college with her.

In January Mckenzie will begin her student teaching experience at Biglerville High School with Mrs. Michelle Miller. She will be teaching Vet Science, Small Animal Science, Large Animal Science, Ag Science, and Ag Mechanics. In her time student teaching Mckenzie is most excited to work with students in Biglerville's new greenhouse.

Mckenzie's favorite quote:
"Find out who you are and do it on purpose." - Dolly Parton

Follow Mckenzie on Twitter and Instagram
Twitter: @MahlerMckenzie
Instagram: @mckenzie_mahler

Erica Teagarden

CPPD Student Worker

Agricultural and Extension Education

Class of 2026

Penn State Teach Ag Alum Leads Exemplary Program in PA

The Center for Professional Personnel Development and the Penn State Teach Ag team would like to highlight Carly Rippole for her work on leading an exemplary program in Pennsylvania with horticulture and greenhouse operations.

Carly is in her 8th year of teaching at Derry Area High School. She is a 2015 graduate of Penn State with a degree in Agricultural and Extension Education. She looks to create a program that would conduct a regional floral competitions. In this, teams of two would travel to Pittsburgh to work with industry partners. They would have one hour to design a theme. After, their design is reviewed by a panel. 

This program can help to provide a hands on experience for a diverse audience of students to engage in. Mainly, those who do not come from traditional agricultural backgrounds. It would help to relate to more suburban and urban populations. Also, this program would help students to form a meaningful connection to the Floriculture industry. This is a large industry in Pennsylvania that hold many opportunities for apprenticeships and work-based learning that students often are not aware of. 

It is expected that close to 20 students or 10 teams will be participating. The date for this pilot program is January 17, 2024.

Erica Teagarden

CPPD Student Worker

Agricultural and Extension Education

Class of 2026