Welcome Mia Sullivan to the CPPD and GTAN Team

 Penn State Teach Ag! would like to welcome Mia Sullivan as the newest Center for Professional Personnel Development team member. She is currently the Global Teach Ag Network Teacher-in-Residence and assists with PSU Teacher Education. 

Mia says, "Penn State was not on my radar until I participated in the GLAG19" which was put on by the Global Teach Ag Network. At the time she was a secondary agriculture teacher trying to better herself for her students. In 2021, Mia started thinking about pursuing her doctorate in agricultural education in hopes of teaching at the collegiate level. "I had already had 1.5 (COVID was weird) student teachers in my classroom and thoroughly enjoyed working with them. It inspired me to play a more active role in preparing the future of our profession". After a doctoral assistantship in Agricultural and Extension Education/ Education, Development, and Community Engagement was posted by Penn State. "And that would be the moment I put my hand on the doorknob to walk through the Penn State Ag Ed door. My BS (University of Kentucky) and MS (Tennessee State University) were both blue/white and had feline mascots so it just made sense to keep with that and become a Nittany Lion", Mia shared.

Before beginning her journey at Penn State, Mia taught agriculture in Tennessee for nine years. Throughout her teaching experience, she taught at four different schools, two of them being her high school and middle school alma mater. Mia attended Eagleton College & Career Academy in middle school and the current principal was her high school ag teacher. The middle school transitioned to a 6-12 grade program and her principal had planned to add agricultural education. Mia says, "He asked if I'd be interested in being the ag teacher and starting this brand new 8-12 program. This experience holds a special place in my heart because the community is the same one that raised me. The students there are the same students that I grew up with. It was such an honor to work with my principal and the supportive community in creating this amazing opportunity for these kids." 

In her role with GTAN (Global Teach Ag Network), she facilitates learning and develops a curriculum for the GTAN program for undergraduate students: GOALs. This is a virtual course that includes 18 students from Penn State, the University of Idaho, Kentucky State University, North Carolina A&T University, Tuskegee University, and the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore. She also assists Dr. Foster in the AEE 412 Methods of Teaching in Ag & Env. to prepare those eight students for their student teaching experience in the Spring. 

Mia has been a CASE Lead Teacher for three years and is certified in AFNR, ABF, ASA, ASP, NRE, and AgX. She did international travel as an undergrad in 2010 to Gisha, Scotland. This past summer she traveled to Uganda with the GTAN Teach Ag Uganda experience funded through the USDE Fulbright Hayes Program. Her plans are to continue with international travel and research and develop students to become future agriculture educators and professionals.  

In her free time, Mia loves working on restoring cast iron, canning and preserving food, and cheering for the Tennessee Volunteers Football Team on Saturday. She has been married for 11 years to her husband Joe and they have a Great Dane named Charlie Brown and eight chickens back in Tennessee. 

Connect with Mia

Email: mcs6395@psu.edu

LinkedIn

Erica Teagarden

CPPD Student Worker

Agricultural and Extension Education

Class of 2026

Paige Rohrbach is AEE June Student of the Month

AEE June Student of the Month:
Paige Rohrbach

Each month the Center for Professional Personnel Development recognizes an AEE for their achievements. For the month of June, we would like to recognize Paige Rohrbach as Student of the Month. Throughout her time at Penn State, Paige has had many achievements both in academics and extracurriculars.  gggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg Paige is from Oley Valley, Pennsylvania and is a graduate of  Oley Valley High School. During her time in high school, Paige was a member of the Oley Valley FFA chapter. She is currently a senior in Agricultural and Extension Education and will graduate in the Spring of 2024. Her future plans are to return to the classroom to teach high school agriculture. She chose Penn State "because of vast opportunities and resources that they provide and connections that we make while in college".

During her time at Penn State, Paige has become very involved in many different clubs, jobs, and other activities. She is currently a student worker for the Center for Professional Personnel Development. She also serves as an Ag Recruitment Intern, Ag Advocate, Teach Ag! Avenger, and is a member of the Coaly Society. She has also completed an internship over the summer for Montgomery county 4-H. A defining moment for Paige during her college career was when she got the opportunity to teach in a high school classroom in Glenwood, Minnesota with Mrs. Tiffany Kobberman during Spring Break of 2023. 

Paige's favorite class at Penn State was AEE 349 with Dr. Ewing. Room 213 in the Ferguson building is Paige's favorite place to hangout on campus. Her favorite place to eat in State College is Moe's. She is a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Her hobbies include hunting and hanging out with family. One interesting thing about Paige is that she has been alligator hunting in Florida. 

Her agriculture interest is Environmental and Wildlife. In the Spring she will be student teaching at Cedar Crest High School with Mr. Philip Haussener and Ms. Claudia Brady. She will be teaching a wide array of classes. She is most excited to grow as a teacher and become more confident while teaching lessons. She is really looking forward to growing her knowledge of mechanics. 

Her favorite quote is:

 "An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. So when life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means that it's going to launch you into something great. So just focus, and keep aiming." -Paulo Coelho

Follow Paige on Twitter and Instagram

Twitter: @prohrbach02 

Instagram: @paigerohrbach02

Erica Teagarden

CPPD Student Worker

Agricultural and Extension Education

Class of 2026