Kayla Hack (@HackKayla) Hired! 2017 Teacher Candidate Hired at Honesdale High School

"I think Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.... because there are so many students that education, especially in agriculture or career and technical education truly does change the course of their life and even their families." 

Kayla Hack is originally from East Troy, Wisconsin, but she is here to stay in Pennsylvania as she becomes Honesdale's Agricultural Educator and FFA Advisor in Wayne County. Throughout her college experience Kayla has been involved in Teach Ag! Society where she had served as an officer for two years; Navigators Ministry; worked for National FFA as a facilitator; studied abroad and conducted undergraduate research in Costa Rica.

Kayla completed her student teaching experience at Pequea Valley High School in Kinzers, PA, in the heart of Lancaster County. She taught five different classes: Foods Unwrapped, Power Technology, Intro to Agricultural Mechanics, Ag Biology and Horticulture. While she was there she had the opportunity to do some interesting things with the students which included: Horticulture students preparing and hosting a workshop at The Factory Ministries for community members teaching flower arranging. The Factory Ministries empowers others to strengthen their community, and the students helped accomplished that with their workshop. The project was possible through a grant from the Pequea Valley Education Foundation. 

At Honesdale High School, Kayla will be opening up a brand new agricultural education program. The last time Honesdale had an agriculture program was in the 1960s. She will be required to build the program from the ground up. This includes curriculum to facilities, but she couldn't be more excited! The community and county are extremely supportive of the program and are giving her a helping hand in getting things started. She recently attended the Wayne County Economic Development Council Annual Dinner where she had the opportunity to meet agricultural leaders in the area.  Agricultural leaders are excited for the program to begin and ready to help in any way they can.  Honesdale agricultural program will be a general agriculture program where in the first year will feature Agriculture 1, a year long introduction to agriculture course with forestry, Foods Processing, Horticulture, and Animal Science. She is ecstatic to meet many community members and producers this summer as she moves up to Wayne County and meet the students in the fall.  Kayla states, "Starting a new program can be intimidating, but when you've been working hard and prepared and mentored well, it's every agriculture teacher's dream." A little fun fact about Wayne County Highlands is 75 miles from Manhattan, NY!

Congratulations Kayla on your recent position at Honesdale High School we wish you the best of luck starting this program!

 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.

Luke Kerstetter

Student Blogger

Twitter Handle: @lmkerstetter96

2020 Agricultural Education Student Teacher

Three Students Recieve NAAE Upper Division Scholarship

Students studying Agricultural and Extension Education at the Pennsylvania State University were selected as recipients for the Upper Division Agricultural Education Scholarship from the National Association of Agricultural Educators.

The Upper Division Agricultural Education scholarship is awarded to upper level agricultural education majors to help offset expenses during their student teaching experience. Twenty-five students from across the United States were selected based on their academic performance as well as on leadership and service activities. Penn State is proud to call three recipients our own!  Penn State students chosen were Kayla Hack, Miranda Kane, and Matthew Snyder -- 2017 Penn State Student Teacher Candidates.

Dr. Foster, an Assistant Professor in Agricultural and Extension Education and Student Teacher Coordinator, believes that these three students are well deserving of the scholarship.  “As a teacher educator, I believe our goal is to cultivate the dispositions in our candidates of: empathy, hunger for continued learning/critical analysis and service. I believe our three students’ actions have truly evidenced all three of these.” The combination of the described dispositions has allowed these students to become better prepared for their next journey as student teachers.

Kayla Hack will be a student teacher at Pequea Valley High School this Spring. During her student teaching experience she will continue to cultivate hunger for continued learning/critical analysis in the classroom. Kayla believes that, “The future of our country and world depends on agriculture, and will be at the front lines of the global issues that my students and I will face. As an agricultural educator I have the unique ability to ask questions that intersect with global problems and other academic subjects. These questions can lead my students and I to discover how we will face the problems of today and the ones of tomorrow." 

Miranda Kane will be a student teacher at Greenwood High School this Spring.  During her student teaching experience she will continue to cultivate empathy in the classroom. “I envision myself working with students of all walks of life, sharing knowledge, and witnessing them grow in their experiences. I enjoy advocating for something that is so essential to humanity, as agriculture. I also love the idea of working with students who can go out and continue sharing about agriculture.”

Matthew Snyder will be a student teacher at Mifflinburg High School this Spring. During his student teaching experience he will continue to cultivate service. Matthew has seen how his service as a future educator is, “Providing opportunities for the youth to expand their knowledge and experiences in agriculture. This can be achieved through hands-on learning with SAE projects and community development opportunities.”

Kayla Hack, Miranda Kane, and Matthew Snyder are truly deserving of the Upper Division Agricultural Education Scholarship. The scholarship will prove useful as they journey through their student teaching experience!

The funding for the NAAE Upper Division Scholarship program comes from National Geographic Learning | Cengage Learning and donations by NAAE members. NAAE is the professional organization in the United States for agricultural educators. It provides its nearly 8,000 members with professional networking and development opportunities, professional liability coverage, and extensive awards and recognition programs. The mission of NAAE is “professionals providing agricultural education for the global community through visionary leadership, advocacy and service”.  The NAAE headquarters are in Lexington, KY.

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.

Halee Wasson

Student Blogger

Twitter Handle: @wasson_halee

2018 Agriculture Education Student Teacher

Reflections From a Pre-Service Teacher: "Shop things"

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” We have heard this quote many times before in regards to teaching and learning. Benjamin Franklin had a point.  As a student that is starting to look at classes and content through the eyes of a teacher, I couldn’t agree more.  Reflect with me for a few moments…

This is a lot different than a vehicle, and the other skid steer I
learned to drive!

The first day of AEE 349, Shop Processes for Agricultural Educators, Dr. Ewing asked us, what we thought the class would be about.  I watched three other roommates take the class so I responded with confidence and a smirk: “shop things.” We all laughed at how generic my response was, but reality hit hard that first day, I knew close to nothing about “shop things.”  The laughter and lack of knowledge about “shop things” was funny in the moment, but I didn’t realize it would bother me in the coming weeks.  The realization that I may have to teach agricultural mechanics processes one day set in, and so did my nerves.  Five weeks into class, they still do.  Every Tuesday and Thursday at 4 pm, I feel this anxiety bubbles up inside me.  Absolutely everything is new to me.  Four stroke engines, hardscapes, circular saws, welding, oxy acetylene… the list goes on and on.  Some of it is a foreign language to me, and I know a foreign language… But this, I might have to teach this. 

When about 4:05 pm hits and we are ready to get our hands dirty disassembling engines in the shop the look on my face must reflect the inner anxiety I feel.  It never fails one of my classmates, the teaching assistant or Dr. Ewing himself notice, ask if I am okay and reassure me that I can do it.  I will learn, and they will take care of me.

One of our units is small gas engines, my partner
and I are in the disassembling process. 

Some days it is easy to walk into class and pretend to know it all, or act like we have it all together.  When we are brave enough to raise our hand and guess, and it’s wrong, sometimes we are encouraged, and sadly other times we are not.   It is easy to say “no, that is not the exact answer I was looking for.”  It takes more thought and care though when a teacher responds with more questions; “Hmm… why do you think that?” Or “what does this part do? So does this make more sense?”    In this class, I can’t and I won’t know it all right away.  The process of learning something new is interesting and exciting, but filled with doubts and unknowns.  I have decided I will ask questions, even the ones with an obvious answer.  I will volunteer to explain how intake, compression, power and exhaust function, mess it up and be corrected so I learn the right process.  I will volunteer to use a circular saw in front of class, to demonstrate safety- but more than that, to step out of my comfort zone and put myself in the shoes of a student.   When I look at this with the eyes of a teacher, I realize I am learning.  I may be surrounded by people that have taken an agricultural mechanics class before, but chances are my future students, will be in my shoes: curious, anxious, interested and maybe a little confused or concerned. 

I hope I don’t forget the anxiety I feel in lab.  It gives me the correct fear and respect for equipment, and it is a feeling my students might have.  I had a false idea that I shouldn’t take classes that I don’t know anything about, maybe because they’re uncomfortable to be in, but isn’t that where true learning happens?  “There is no growth in a comfort zone, and there is no comfort in a growth zone.”  I will keep involving myself in learning about “shop things,” letting myself grow in the process. 

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