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

Hired! Teacher Candidate Janae McMichael Hired at Lampeter-Strasburg High School! #psuaged16

Hometown. A place we know, with people we know- a place that has seen our best and seen our worst, a place of familiarity and expectations.  A place some of us are lucky enough to go back to.  Mrs. Janae McMichael (Herr) received that opportunity to go back to the place she calls home.  Teacher candidate from the class of 2016, Janae McMichael will be teaching at Lampeter-Strasburg High School! 

During her time at Penn State Janae was an agricultural business management minor and was involved in Teach Ag! Society where she served as the President and chair of the Domestic Study Away, which she attended twice in Colorado and Mississippi.  She served as a Teach Ag! Avenger for Penn State Teach Ag! and Ag Advocate for the College of Agricultural Sciences.  She was also involved in Collegiate FFA.  Janae student taught with Mr. David Bittner and Mr. Greg Erb at Midd-West High School where she learned how to effectively and efficiently incorporate technology and involve community members and stakeholders.  Janae said she hopes to “actively seek opportunities to do the same.”

She was “Tagged to Teach Ag!” in some of the same places she will Tag others to do the same thing.  “Growing up on a generational dairy farm certainly influenced my passion for production agriculture, but my involvement in 4-H and FFA helped cultivate that passion focus more so on the future of agriculture.”  She credits her Dad and her Agricultural Educator, whom she will teach alongside, for being “incredibly influential individuals in helping me solidify my career choice in agriculture education.” 

Janae and her students at Midd-West

Lampeter Strasburg is a two-teacher program where Janae will teach alongside Holly Oberholtzer.  Together there are 180 students in the program.  The Agriculture Program has courses in Veterinary Science, Agricultural Science, Landscape and Plant Design, Agricultural Mechanics, Welding, Electricity and Small Gas Engines. 

When thinking about teaching in the same school where she grew up, Janae reflected on what she looks forward to while teaching.  “The opportunity to give back to the community that I grew up in; the challenge of helping my students discover the immense amount of opportunities that agricultural education allows for its students; playing a role in preserving the rich heritage of agriculture in our community; changing students lives.”  Janae will be well on her way to challenging her students and giving them opportunities to grow; in her classes, as well rounded students as she strives to work on cross curricular projects while meeting the needs of the community she calls home.

To learn more about starting on the path to having a career that makes a positive impact on the lives of students across the globe by becoming an agricultural educator, please contact the agricultural teacher education program at teachag@psu.edu. Follow us on Twitter at TeachAgPSU, on Facebook, or on our blog.

Kayla Hack

Student Blogger

Twitter Handle: @hackkayla

2017 Agriculture Education Student Teacher