Miss Jessica Barnhart Accepts First Teaching Position at Northern Lebanon High School

Miss Jessica Barnhart of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania and Penn State 2020 Graduate has recently accepted a teaching position at Northern Lebanon High School in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Jess gained her interest in agriculture when she took an Introduction to Agriculture class because she thought it would be fitting to her background. Miss. Barnhart states "I lived on a small farm and I later found a passion in wildlife that brought me to being an educational intern with DCNR located at Yellow Creek State Park. I loved teaching so much that I decided I wanted to pursue it in Agriculture, but I still wasn't sure how." She also shares that her student teaching experience at Brockway Area High School, with Kyle Norman and Matt Holt, helped to solidify that she wanted to become an Agriculture Educator.

While student teaching, Miss. Barnhart gained experiences teaching freshman through seniors including Wildlife, Horticulture, Animal Science, Small Gas Engines and Wood Working. During this time is when she also learned a valuable lesson through her classroom experiences. She said "I learned through student teaching that every student comes with their own backstory, their own challenges and their own strengths. Use those strengths and their passions to make them excited to learn." She is very fond of her time spent at Brockway and is happy to have had them be her mentors.

Currently, Miss. Barnhart has started her first year teaching agriculture and being an FFA Advisor at Northern Lebanon High School. This is a two-teacher program with Mrs. Jennifer Balmer. Jess teaches Elements of Agriculture to 9^thgrade students, Introduction to Agriculture to 7^th grade students and Floriculture, Small Animal Science, and Aquaculture/Wildlife/Forestry. Being passionate about Wildlife, she is excited to have many classroom pets/animals which the school encourages the students to be hands-on with. Currently they have 2 ball pythons, a tarantula, aquarium, a cane toad, hissing cockroaches, a bearded dragon, leopard gecko, mice and rats. They are always expanding and hoping to bring in more soon!

A word of advice Miss. Barnhart wanted to share with other students is "What's meant to be will always find a way". "So don’t sweat the small stuff. You are going to go through many challenges but you are here for a reason. Take your passions and hold them tight throughout the ride because when you see your first classroom of eyes looking at you and your thinking “how could I possibly do this” you can. And you’re going to rock every second of it!"

We are so excited for your new position and are wishing you the best of luck this year and many more ahead! Congratulations again Miss. Barnhart, on being hired to teach at Northern Lebanon High School, you will accomplish many great things with your students.

Morgan Bear

CPPD Student Worker

Agricultural & Extension Education

Class of 2023

The Great Northern Lebanon Experience by Alyshia West

I was blessed to be welcomed to such a wonderful agriculture education family.  Starting at National convention my students were such an open and bubbly group of students.  We found fun educational material together at the career show then had a little “scare” time at the haunted asylum.   Through these experiences I built relationships with my students that were critical for my student teaching experience.

During my time at Northern Lebanon I struggled but I wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for the excellent support of Ms. Oberst and Mrs.Balsbaugh.  Ms.Oberst has 30 years of experience under her belt and Mrs.Balsbaugh is still new in the education field and coming from Penn State her herself, she understood what I was going through.

I gained a lot of experience in the area of animal science and forestry.  But one of the greatest things I learned is that planning is critical and being able to ask for help is necessary.  I also learned that being able to think on your feet and being prepared for the unexpected is needed on a daily basis as an agriculture educator.  e TH

The greatest example from my student teaching experience is from the day of banquet.  The day finally arrived for banquet, we had planned who needed to be where and when to the T.  However, our sow decided to have her piglets, and apparently so did our guinea pig.  This cramped our plans, but we quickly redirected and figured out how to pull together and have a successful banquet.

The Northern Lebanon students always were chipper and bubbly.  They were always willing to try the crazy ideas I cooked up and always had helpful feedback.  These students were such exceptional leaders of this school.  It was very touching to see how close they all were to each other.  If someone was having a bad day, everyone went out of their way to help their peer out, just like a large family.  I am grateful for such an excellent set of students, and that they welcomed me as part of the family from day one.

To learn more about starting on the path to having a career that makes a positive impact on the lives of student across the glob by becoming an agricultural educator, please contact the agricultural teacher education program at teachag@psu.edu. Follow us on Twitter @TeachAgPSU, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PSUTeachAg.

Submitted by:

Alyshia West

@a_west362

2013 Student Teacher

Northern Lebanon High School