Pennsylvania Ag Teacher "Turns the Key" to Success!

With a continued shortage of Agricultural Educators, it is imperative that new and beginning teachers are encouraged to stay in the profession. For this reason, the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) has created the “Teachers Turn the Key” program and a scholarship to support an individual from each state to be involved! 

This award is given to teachers in their 2nd-5th year of teaching (at the time of the NAAE National Convention) that show great promise and interest in participating in a program to grow themselves as positive agents of change. This year, Katherine (Katie) Ranck will be representing the Pennsylvania Association of Agricultural Educators (PAAE) at the NAAE National Convention in December!

Katie, a member of #psuaged16 is currently in her third year of teaching at Garden Spot High School in New Holland, PA. She is deserving of this award because of her active engagement in the professional community encompassed within Agricultural Education. In fact, it is this community, or “village” as she calls it that she appreciates most as an educator. Katie says: “One piece of my career that I am extremely grateful for is my personal and professional village and the endless support and encouragement they have provided me. These are the people whom I need to be able to even have a vision to advance agriculture education in my local community and school.” Despite only being in her third year of the profession, Katie has found the support network that motivates teachers to stay involved in Pennsylvania Agricultural Education, which is also the goal of the "Teachers Turn the Key” professional development program.

Katie says that she has continued to learn even in the teacher role. Her advice to current #PSUTeachAg students is to “Remember that Rome is not built overnight, but it was built. The foundation you set for yourself is what you build from.” Also, it is important that as a professional you are “being intentional about building positive relationships among colleagues, administrators, school personnel, and community members.”

#PSUTeachAg is ecstatic to see Katie’s successes and hopes that her village continues to grow! We wish her luck as she represents PAAE in December at the NAAE National Convention!

Keep turning the keys that unlock the potential of Pennsylvania Agricultural Education! 

To learn more about the "Teachers Turn the Key" program and scholarship, visit the NAAE website!

Justin Kurtz

#PSUAgEd22

Twitter Handle: @JustinDKurtz

After One Year of Being an Educator - Katherine Ranck's (@klranck) Experience

Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a beginning teacher? If this has been one of your questions that still has yet to be answered you will be inspired by Katie Ranck's experience. Katie Ranck is part of the #psuaged16 cohort, and was employed in the state of Maryland at North Hartford High School as an agricultural educator for her first year. She has returned to PA teaching at Garden Spot High School this current school year. This past year was her first year as an educator so lets dive in to her experience to get inspired to Teach Ag!

Her first year as an educator was a little different as she taught in a different state than she was trained in. Her first experience was learning how Maryland's system and contests worked which increased her learning curve. She had a hard time balancing life and work causing her to put most of her time into her work. Even though she had struggles she still enjoyed teaching, and she is excited to be back in Pennsylvania teaching. Her experiences had led her to being able to adapt as she explains, "After teaching for a year, I have learned to adapt to each student and their individual learning needs. This help me develop more compassionate and aware of what could be happening in students lives outside the school walls." She suggests that it is best to use the resources you have, and do your job the way you know how. Her piece of advice to teacher that have just begun educating she proclaims, "Make intentional efforts to make friends within the building. It is beneficial to know other teachers when you need help, need someone to talk to, or even when they are discussing another teacher or class to know who it is." 

Her most inspiring moment was when she was in her last week of teaching in Maryland her upperclassmen made her a poster wishing her well in Pennsylvania. Her thoughts are best put in her words, "That meant a lot because I was only there 7 months and, I, like the students knew what a great relationship we had and I felt great that they knew how awesome it was." She enjoys being an agricultural educator because of the students and the diversity of content. She says that the students are unpredictable and creative even though they can be frustrating. The content diversity keeps it interesting for her and her students. She loves the surprise of a new topic or lesson that gets them excited.

Katie Ranck had some struggles when she began, but she overcame them to do her best in educating and inspiring the future generation. We are proud of your efforts as an educator, and wish you the best for your future years as an agricultural educator.

Luke Kerstetter

Student Blogger

Twitter Handle: @lmkerstetter96

2020 Agricultural Education Student Teacher