Student of the Month: Victoria Herr #psuaged19 #teachag

Every month we like to highlight students that have gone above and beyond in the Agriculture Education department! For the month of January, that student is our very own Victoria Herr (@Victoria_Herr).

Many freshman take things easy their first semester, but Victoria jumped right in! With just a semester under her belt, there is no denying she has a passion for Agricultural Education. Victoria credits her involvement with FFA for many of her successes. A graduate of Penn Manor High School, she states: "After joining FFA my freshman year of high school, it didn't take me long to realize how much I loved it and ag ed!" Victoria in not only passionate about her future career as an agriculture educator but she is very interested in International Agriculture. Her minor is in International Agriculture and traveled to Belize during Thanksgiving break. Victoria hopes to not only teach some day, but partner with an organization such as the Peace Corps, Agricorps, or Fulbright. "Not only do I love traveling, but I really have a desire to learn from the people who live such different lives than me, and I know that these experiences will someday make me a better teacher as well!" We couldn't agree more Victoria!

Her passion does not stop there, it has allowed her to become involved in various ways in the Penn State Teach Ag! Program. She is involved in Teach Ag! Society where she serves as the secretary and in Collegiate FFA. Victoria is also a student worker for the Center for Professional Personnel Development as the Global Teach Ag! Intern. This role has kept Victoria busy assisting local high schools globalize their agriculture curriculum and playing an important role in planning the Global Learning in Agriculture Conference!

Want to know some fun facts about Victoria? Check them out below!

Victoria and her classmates in Belize over Thanksgiving Break
learning about traditional foods. 

Hometown: Lancaster, PA

Favorite PSU Class: AEE 100

Favorite place to eat in State College: The Tavern 

Favorite Penn State Athletic Team: Football

Favorite Hangout on Campus: North Hall, it's close to the Creamery and Arboretum!

If you would like to read more about Victoria, check out the other blogs we have written about her scholarship, work experience and connect with her on twitter @Victoria_Herr

2015-16 PSU Global Teach Ag Intern: Victoria Herr

Mastering the Art of Being Me

From a young age, I have been considered weird. When the rest of the girls in my kindergarten class were having tea parties in their princess dresses, I was out catching bullfrogs in my overalls. I had two older sisters who tried their hardest to dress me up and make me act “normal” but despite their efforts, a dress was always my last pick. Throughout childhood, I was happy to collect bird’s nests and turtle shells while my peers collected dolls, I was happy to be me. 

As middle school came, I began to realize that I was different than the rest of the world, and in middle school, different is bad. I tried my hardest to fit in and be happy with who everyone wanted me to be, but I still felt left out and even worse about who I was. Luckily in high school I found the FFA and a group of people who didn’t mind my lack of style and my love of mud! In FFA I was free to be me and I even began to grow and learn more about the person I am. FFA was my safe place, but once I left those ag classrooms, I again would begin to wish I was like all the other girls. High school, although filled with great memories, was a hard time for me, and a place I wish I could make more comfortable for the students who spend their days trying to fit in.

After high school came a time of tremendous growth as I served Pennsylvania as the State FFA Secretary. This past year allowed me to do what I love (and people even thought I was cool for it!) In my time as a state officer I was finally able to figure out who I was and begin to embrace it, I began to master the art of being me.

And then there’s college! Penn State is this magical place filled with diversity and acceptance, you can be literally whoever you want, and no one will care. I even saw a student in full out knight armor walking down a busy street last week and not a single person gave a second glance. College is the place where no matter who you are, you fit in. I love college. I have finally found the place where I can wear what I want, do what I want, and be who I want, and have confidence in it! So what do I want to do? Who do I want to be?

I want to be a life changer, a friend to those in need, a hugger, a comforter, a mentor, and whatever my students need. My goal is to be an Agricultural Educator. My goal is to change the world, one student at a time. My goal is to teach my students to embrace their differences. My goal is to open my students’ eyes to the amazing world we live in. My goal is to hug a student as they cry, and tell them it’s all going to be okay. My goal is to have a classroom that feels like a home. My goal is to train scientists, politicians, businessmen, pastors, farmers, and all sorts of other leaders. My goal is to be the person who gives students hope. My goal is to be the person that I needed, and the person that I got.

These goals have led me to Penn State as I plan to major in Agricultural and Extension Education with minors in International Agriculture and Leadership Development, and what better way to dive into my involvement than by serving as the Global Teach Ag! Intern for the College of Ag?! As Global Teach Ag! Intern my mission is to assist educators across the state and country in developing programs that will create globally competent students. I am super excited to see where this internship will take me and I’m confident that it will only push me more towards mastering the art of being me!

To contact me feel free to follow me on twitter, @vherrrrrrr, or email me at vzh5064@psu.edu!

To learn more about the PSU Global Teach Ag!: http://aese.psu.edu/teachag/global/ 

Digital Early Field Pre-Service Teaching Experiences: A Virtual Partnership between Minnesota & Penn State

They say never say “never”…..and it rings true!  I have always said, I never want to take an online class and I would never want to teach one, well… I was wrong!  This semester Janae Bickhart (@JanaeBickhart) and I were give the opportunity to be teaching assistance for a class in Minnesota from Penn State!  Yep, it all happened in Ferguson Building room 206 on Penn State's campus at University Park. It was unique, it was real and it was innovative.

Mr. Eric Sawatzke (@ESawatzke), Agriscience Teacher and FFA Advisor at Dassel-Cokato High School leads a unique, real and innovative program in Minnesota.  Eric will take a group of students to South Africa in August to engage in international agriculture.  To develop global agriculture learning objectives and asses global competency in a high school Global Agriculture and Agribusiness classroom, Dassel-Cokato Agriculture Program and Penn State Global Teach Ag! formed a partnership.   Janae Bickhart, 2015 AEE student teacher candidate and myself, Kayla Hack, 2017 student teacher candidate signed up for the challenge. 

How did this happen?

"The ability to talk to someone outside of our school.
 Gave us a second view on things."- Dassel Cakota Student

Every Friday the teaching assistants would video chat with the students in MN to teach a lesson.  The focus: Global Agriculture.  Lessons ranged from hunger issues worldwide to the importance of cooperatives as an agriculture business model for developing nations.  As teaching assistants we engaged virtually in the classroom Fridays and assisted with other 
grading and homework guidance. 

"It was something different, it made class more fun. I actually looked forward to Fridays not just because of the week end, but because of being able to talk to Penn State. It made the class way more interesting!"- Dassel Cokato Student

This opportunity was unique, it was taught from an office weekly to students across the country. 

It was real, the students through video were real, interactive, funny and impressive high school students that took an interest in global agriculture. We received real experience teaching lessons and using innovative technology.

It was innovative, when something is new creativity ripples, adapting lessons to be taught virtually while students were still able to have concrete and reflective experiences in class took creativity. This opportunity provided professional development for a pre-service agricultural 
educator and a twist on classroom learning. 

Unique. Real. Innovative. - Penn State Teach Ag!


To learn more about the PSU Global Teach Ag! Initiative check out our website: http://aese.psu.edu/teachag/global.  

Yours in trying new opportunities,

Kayla



Kayla Hack
Global Teach Ag! Intern
2017 Agricultural Education Student Teacher Candidate
@HackKayla

#TheNextNorm World Food Prize: Perspectives from the Global Teach Ag! Intern

The World Food Prize is an event to recognize those that are taking on “The Greatest Challenge in Human History”, feeding the world by improving food systems and quality.   Norman Borlaug is at the heart and history of this event.   Dr. Borlaug is known as the father of the green revolution and credited with saving millions of lives because of his research.   He was a Nobel Peace Prize winner and hoped to have an award to recognize others in food and agricultural improvement.  The World Food Prize was started as a result of that.  Paired with the World Food Prize was the Global Youth Institute, where students from across the country took on “the greatest challenge in human history”, researching their way to being #TheNextNorm

So what is this hashtag #thenextnorm all about?  It is about giving students opportunities and avenues to find and research ideas to become the next Norman Borlaug, and to challenge the norm of society around the world.  I have no doubt the roomed filled with over 150 students held “The Next Norm”.  

Students sharing their research!

These “next norms” are innovative, inspiring and they are our future. As one of the speakers said, in some generations put a man on the moon or created the computer, this generation will  feed the world.  The students at the Youth Institute did not take that lightly, they chose a developing country, one factor effecting that countries food insecurity, and came up with solutions to improve food systems through anything from education to infrastructure.  As they shared their findings with a panel of experts,  their passion and determination filled the room.

Agricultural Education around the country differs, but if we want one thing to tie it together, maybe it should be Global Agriculture.  Why?  My question is why not?  These student proved it to me this week, as a high school student stood in front of laureates, expert faculty and his peers and said, “We came up with a whole list of problems… ..but we came up with two pages of solutions.”  They made me want to learn more on my own, research on my own and join them.  

2014 Laureate, Dr. Rajaram shared a conversation that happened between him Dr. Borlaug, and it applies here as well. He said, It didn’t happen right away but it was a process involving a global team.  We have a team, are you willing to join us?

Check out what Secretary Vilsack had to say to encourage young people in agriculture!

Introducing our PSU Global Teach Ag! Intern: Kayla Hack - "The Scenic Route"

It may not be the fastest, most direct, or even most efficient, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. My name is Kayla Hack and I think I have landed in the most beautiful part of my scenic route here in State College. With just over one week under my belt, I don’t feel “new” anymore, and day by day I become more comfortable in my second home. I come from the America’s Dairyland and home of the Green Bay Packers, where my hometowns annual rummage sale was another holiday.

I am a sophomore studying Agriculture and Extension Education with International Agriculture and Spanish minors. I hope to not only teach agriculture education in the United States, but eventually live and teach overseas.

Before arriving in State College my scenic route included stops in Wisconsin, Iowa, Africa and a few other states. I served as State FFA officer in Wisconsin, attended Dordt College in Iowa, and traveled to Swaziland, Africa with Hosea’s Heart. Working with National FFA I have had the opportunity to make a few stops in other states as well!

Along with a new city, new house, new roommates and new classes, comes new opportunities. I am excited to be working as the first PSU Global Teach Ag! Intern. As the intern I will be helping to advance global competency for school based agricultural education through many avenues. I will be supporting and planning programming for global learning in agriculture and conducting research in global experiences at the secondary level. I am most excited about partnering with the Dassel-Cokato Agriculture Education program with instructor Eric Sawatzke of Minnesota and 2015 AEE Student Teacher candidate Janae Bickhart to provide reusable learning objectives and develop and use digital platforms to engage students all to gain global competency as a teaching assistant.

What I like about this global learning initiative is it takes the focus off “me” and puts it on “we”, challenging students to see how our agriculture industry and world are connected, and encouraging them to play a part in that. I am excited to see what virtual and global learning can look like and how I can play a part in that here, but also in my own classroom some day. I often catch myself saying out loud, “I live in Pennsylvania, I go to Penn State!” and I surprise myself every time, it is still shocking to me that Happy Valley is my current view!

Let’s get connected and continue on this scenic route together! Follow me on Twitter @hackkayla or email me at kbh5210@psu.edu.

To learn more about the PSU Global Teach Ag!: http://aese.psu.edu/teachag/global/