5th Annual Teach Ag! Essay Event Top 4 Announced! #studentsucess

When most students hear the word “essay”, you will typically see angry and annoyed faces or students jumping out of the room to avoid the work. That is not the case for some exceptional students from throughout Pennsylvania. This year, the Teach Ag! Society hosted the 5th annual Teach Ag! Essay Event. It was our most successful year yet, with 83 entries from over 26 different schools!

Mackenzie Yorlets teaching a class!

If you have never heard of this event before, you will be surprised to learn what all of these students had to accomplish. The outline for the event is to teach an agriculture class in their high school to their classmates and then write an essay answering the questions, “Why Teach Ag?” and “What I learned as an ag teacher for a day!” 

They also had the option to submit a YouTube video to demonstrate their lessons! This is an awesome opportunity for the students to explore if they want to make a career out of teaching agriculture, there are some additional benefits for participating.  

Each contestant gets to receive a limited edition PSU Teach Ag! T-shirt, have an ice cream social in their honor after the opening session of the State FFA Convention, as well as, the top four each receive a gift card for National FFA, and the first place winner in addition to the gift card and t-shirt receives free registration for a 2014 FFA Event of their choosing! 

After learning about everything that these amazing students had to do, it is our pleasure to announce the top four participants in the Teach Ag Essay Event!

           Mikayla Barnhart, James Buchanan High School
Agriscience Teacher: Mr. Herb Hoffeditz

 

Kevin Dressler, Selinsgrove Area High School
Agriscience Teachers: Ms. Valerie Fry & Mr. Curt Swineford

'

Kristopher Heacox, Derry High School
Agriscience Teacher: Mr. Roy Campbell

 

Mackenzie Yorlets, Cumberland Valley School
Agriscience Teacher: Ms. Darla Romberger

Congratulations to the top four and all participants! The winner of the contest will be announced during the opening session on Tuesday night of that Pennsylvania FFA State Convention at Penn State!

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!
 

           

Olivia Murphy-Sweet

Student Blogger
Teach Ag! Avenger
Twitter Handle @OSweetMurph
2016 Agricultural Education Student Teacher 

Danielle Smith, 2012 Student Teacher at Selinsgrove High School Talks About Her Experiences this Past Spring

When I was first asked to reflect on my student teaching experience I thought “I don’t know what to write so much has happened.” It is hard to make a short reflection, but now thinking about it more I can sum up my student teaching experience with one word “impact.”

When most people put impact and student teaching together they think about the student teaching impacting the students at their cooperating center. Which makes sense because that’s what we are there for to teach and by extension impact students, but when I think about impact I think more about the impact my cooperating center has had on my life. I have often thought to myself that I have succeeded in my student teaching internship if I have made half the impact on my students that they have made on me.

The first experience I had that really impacted me was when I first started to teach my vet science class; after class one day as students were getting ready to leave as the bell was ringing a female student started to talk to me about FFA she told me that she wanted to join but was worried about what her friends would say I told her that you should not worry about what your friends will think when making decisions and that you should make decisions based on what you want to do. She seemed to be responsive to this and to most people that would just be a typical conversation with a student which it was to me until I found out more about this student. This particular student did not get along with most teachers in the school and she is usually considered a discipline issue and a student teachers could not connect with in a positive way. This is when I realized that it was really meaningful that she felt comfortable opening up to me. My relationship with this student has continued and I have faith that I have impacted her and that possibly her life will be somewhat different thanks to me taking the time to talk to her and even though she probably doesn’t know it I will always remember her because she impacted my life as well.

The second experience I think about when I think about impact involves a group of students. During student teaching I taught a building construction class this class consisted of 13 boys. This was also the class that I was teaching shop based units that I was not that comfortable with. I will always remember this class because not only did it help me overcome my fears of teaching shop, but it also impacted me by allowing me to realize that I can not only teach a class of all boys but prove to them that I know what I am talking about when I am teaching and most importantly teach them skills they did not have before.

My final experience I would like to highlight is my recognition at the FFA banquet. It was not so much that my cooperating center chose to honor me at the banquet it was more that what was read on stage to honor me was written by students. I did not know it till the night of the banquet, but Mrs. Fry my cooperating teacher had given the officers the task of writing something up to honor me. When I was called on stage I was surprised and then when I realized the words that were being said about me were coming straight from my students I almost cried. It was then that I realized I was not going to be that student teacher that comes to a school for a short period of time and then leaves and no one remembers but that I was going to be that student teacher that students talk about for years to come and that has impacted them in some way.

Overall my student teaching experience has been very meaningful and I am sad to leave. That is why I do not think of it as leaving the place but not the people because they have forever changed me as I hope I have changed them.