Kayla Stauffer is Tagged to Teach Ag! at Mount Union Area High School

Recent Penn State Agricultural & Extension Education graduate Kayla Stauffer has been hired at Mount Union Area High School in Mount Union, PA. Kayla is originally from Lancaster, PA and she graduated from Lampeter-Strasburg High School where she was actively involved in the Garden Spot FFA Chapter. She did not have her career goal set out to be an Agriculture Educator. Kayla says "I always thought that I was going to be a veterinarian, I love animals and love taking care of them. I enrolled in the Veterinary Science course at my high school and fell in love with not only veterinary medicine but the National FFA organization and all aspects of agriculture. I continued to take agriculture courses all four years of high school." Through being a part of the Agriculture Education program at Lampeter-Strasburg is where Kayla was able to learn more about her passion for agriculture and try new activities. The National Teach Ag! Essay Contest was brought to her attention and she decided to try her hand at teaching an agriculture class. She states "After teaching one period of Veterinary Science in 11th grade, I knew that I wanted to teach and knew that I specifically wanted to Teach Ag!"

After graduating high school Kayla attended the Pennsylvania State University Altoona Campus. Here she got involved in the Penn State Altoona Ag Club and Altoona Cheer-leading. At the University Park Campus Kayla became involved in the Club Cheer-leading Squad and served as a Penn State Teach Ag! Avenger. During her student teaching period she branched out and decided to travel to Boonsboro, Maryland where Kayla taught under Mrs. Quinn Cashell-Martin. She gained experience teaching Introduction to Agriculture, Power Mechanics 1 & 2, Greenhouse Management, Floral Design, and a Forestry and Soils course. 

Kayla is now eager to start her journey at Mount Union Area High School. She will be a part of a new three-teacher program. Her class schedule consists of courses including Introduction to Wood Products and Technology, Advanced Wood shop/Cabinetry, Small Gas Engines, and Agriculture Mechanics. When asking Kayla about some of her classroom goals she said "I have numerous goals that I would like to achieve throughout the next several years, but the main goal that I want to achieve is creating an incredible relationship with the special education department and finding ways to include those students in the FFA program and our agriculture courses." In addition, Kayla is excited to be teaching Agriculture Mechanics courses because she did not take any shop classes throughout her high school career, but overtime gaining more experience in the shop she has fallen in love with the content through the courses at Penn State and her student teaching experience. Kayla expresses one thing she is excited for which is to challenge herself with learning more wood working content and coming up with innovative ways to work with the other teachers by combining all of the course content and assisting each another. When asked one piece of advice she had for Ag Ed majors Kayla said "Be yourself. Don’t worry about what the rest of your cohort or the graduates before you have done or are doing, bring your own personality into the classroom and into the educator that you want to become."

The Center for Professional Personnel Development is excited to see what great learning experiences Kayla will offer to her students. Congratulations again on being hired at Mount Union Area High School, you will positively impact the Agriculture Education Program and its students. Best of luck Kayla!

Morgan Bear

CPPD Student Worker

Agricultural & Extension Education

Class of 2023

Meet your new Teach Ag! Avengers!

Your 2018-19 Teach Ag! Avengers from L to R (starting at top):
Sam Loy, Victoria Herr, Kayla Rose Stauffer, Beth Winklosky,
Maddie Bentz, Erin Langdale, Alicia Gates, and Megan Royer.

We can all probably think back to our high school days and early college years, and remember a time where we might not have even had a clue of what we wanted to do with our lives yet. How did you ultimately decide what you wanted to do? Luckily, FFA members and agricultural students have the Teach Ag! Avengers to help them find out!

If you're currently an agricultural teacher or working in the agriculture industry, perhaps you had a conversation with one of our Avengers, sparking your interest in the field of agriculture. We're showcasing our 8 outstanding Teach Ag! Avengers, who are serving as the face of the Agricultural and Extension Education major for The Pennsylvania State University's 2018 - 2019 year. As Kayla Rose Stauffer puts it, the purpose of the Avengers is, "...to promote agriculture in a positive light and to help decrease the shortage of agricultural educators." 

Meet our 8 outstanding Teach Ag! Avengers, who are serving as the face of the Agricultural and Extension Education major for The Pennsylvania State University's 2018 - 2019 year:

Victoria Herr (@Victoria_Herr), #psuaged19

Why do I want to teach Ag?
"I want to teach agriculture because I saw the impact that my agricultural education teachers had on my own life and I want to pass that impact onto the next generation."

Why am I a Teach Ag! Avenger?
"I chose to serve as a Teach Ag! Avenger because I believe it is important to give back to the Ag Ed community. We've all been given so many opportunities and so much support during our time in Ag Ed and it's up to us to continue that cycle and give back by recruiting and supporting the younger members of our community."


Alicia Gates (@gates_alicia), #psuaged20

Why do I want to teach Ag?
"I want to teach Ag simply because I believe in the future of agriculture. I believe that to have a positive and growing future in the agricultural industry we need to educate generation after generation on the industry that puts the clothes on our back, the shelter over our heads, and the food on our plates."
Why am I a Teach Ag! Avenger?
"I wanted to be an avenger to help maximize my experience in the field of Ag Ed so that I can provide a valuable learning environment for my students someday."

Megan Royer (@Megyyy22), #psuaged21

Why do I want to teach Ag?
"I want to become an Agricultural Educator because of the impact my teacher and my Ag program has had on me. I learned so much about myself as well as other through my program and I would like to create that opportunity for other kids. Most importantly, I want to become an Ag Teacher because I want to teach kids and get kids excited not only about information and skills that will not only set them up for a bright future but also help those kids thrive in our ever-changing world."

Why am I a Teach Ag! Avenger?
"I chose to become an Teach Ag! Avenger because I wanted the opportunity to promote and discuss an occupation that needs everyone! More importantly, I wanted to stress that just because you may not fit into the typically cookie cutter outline of what most people would consider as Ag does not mean there is not a place for you, and here in Ag Ed we would be extremely happy for you to join us!"

Kayla Rose Stauffer (@krstauffer19), #psuaged19

Why do I want to teach Ag?
"I want to teach Ag to create a world where consumers understand where their products come from and not that they come from the shelf at the supermarket. I also want to teach Ag to reach out to those children that don't know what they want to do, and to explain the benefits of teaching agriculture."

Why am I a Teach Ag! Avenger?
"I chose to be a Teach Ag! Avenger to help reduce the shortage of agricultural educators. I also chose to be an avenger to show students the important of agricultural education and why agricultural education is a great career pathway to choose!"

Sam Loy (@samloy_ag), #psuaged21

Why do I want to teach Ag?
"I want to teach Ag because I believe it's one of the only subjects you can teach that directly prepares students for a world outside high school, through the knowledge of where their food comes from, CDE's, and the multitude of different subjects (math, bio, chemistry) covered by Ag."

Why am I a Teach Ag! Avenger?
"I chose to be a Teach Ag! Avenger because I want to help directly impact youth in FFA programs around Pennsylvania while furthering my teaching and professional skills."


Elizabeth Winklosky (@Winklosky_Beth), #psuaged19

Why do I want to teach Ag?
"I like the individuality and the impact that I have on a part of each student's lives."

Why am I a Teach Ag! Avenger?
"This is where we can get other people to feel the same passion that I do. Many people don't know what they want to do until it happens, and that's exactly what happened with me, so I want to be there to let them know that teaching Ag is an option for them!"


Erin Langdale (@ItsErinLangdale), #psuaged20

Why do I want to teach Ag?

"Simply put: we ALL need agriculture to survive. By 2050, there will be over 9 billion people living on this planet, and it’s the challenge of agriculturalists, to figure out how we will provide enough nutritious food for everyone. Agricultural education not only informs people of that fact, but it shows students how they play an active role in the agriculture industry. It is vital that all people be knowledgeable of where there food comes from, and agricultural education is a huge factor of informing the general public about the agriculture industry."

Why am I a Teach Ag! Avenger?

"Agricultural education is something that I am so passionate about, and being a Teach Ag! Avenger, means getting to spread that passion to others. I thought that being a Teach Ag! Avenger would be a great opportunity to represent Agricultural Education, and Penn State (two things I love so much). I also decided to become a Teach Ag! Avenger, because it would give me valuable experience in advocacy, and sharing my story in agriculture."

Maddie Bentz, #psuaged21

The Avengers are attending each weekend of the ongoing PA FFA ACES Conference, held February 3rd - 4th, 10th - 11th, and 17th - 18th, to engage with current high school FFA members, recruit for the Agricultural and Extension Education major, and answer any questions students may have about a future career that creates a positive impact on the lives of students across the globe.

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.

Hunter Kauffman, Student Blogger

Wildlife and Fisheries Science

College of Agricultural Sciences

Instagram: kauffman_hunter

Email: hlk5120@psu.edu