The incredible student success stories of the Penn State Agricultural & Extension Education Program! Creating Positive Agents of Change to make the world a better place!
We welcome guest bloggers and contributors. Email teachag@psu.edu for more information!
"Oh The Places You'll Go, Today is your day. You're Off to great places your off and away..." These famous Dr. Seuss lines are perfect for both endings and new beginnings. It is that time of year, where classes are coming to an end and graduation is right around the corner, a time to celebrate and reflect. This week Teach Ag! Society, Collegiate FFA, and the Center for Professional Personnel Development all came together to recognize club accomplishments and say good-bye to graduating members at the 80th Annual Banquet. Not only was it a time to remember the year's accomplishments and say good-bye to our 2016 student teachers and a new beginning as the 2017 student teachers rise to become seniors.
Mr. Cliff Day receiving an award and recognition at the banquet!
The guests in attendance from Pennsylvania FFA and the Agriculture community at Penn State made the banquet a success. The Center of Professional Personnel Development recognized Mr. Cliff Day for over 40 years of service to Pennsylvania Agricultural Education, in his role at the FFA Facilitator and as an Agriculture Teacher! We wish him well in his retirement and a sincere congratulations in all his accomplishments and years of service!
We had the opportunity from hearing from a leader in agriculture, our keynote speaker Mr. Scott Sheely. Mr. Sheely is the Special Assistant for Workforce Development at the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and resides in Lancaster County. He challenged us as agricultural educators that are the next generation of agriculturalist and those that will prepare the next generation of agriculturalists. He concluded by encouraging us to take advantage of opportunities and the turns that they make take in agriculture and beyond. Following the keynote, there were awards that were presented to special people nominated by Teach Ag! Society and Collegiate FFA for having accomplishments in the agriculture education career, in the agriculture industry, and being an outstanding member in Teach Ag! Society and Collegiate FFA. Those people that were selected for at award are outlined below!
Alpha Tau Alpha Honorary Agricultural Education Fraternity Initiates
We finished the night by celebrating our graduating seniors, the 2016 teacher candidates! Best of luck to all of you, congratulations on completing your student teaching experience and enjoy graduation! "Your mountain is students are waiting, so get on your way."
Congratulations Seniors!
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!
As our year
comes to a close, there is always that “bittersweet” feeling in the air that
never seems to go away no matter how many years pass by. Not only is it a time
to remember the years accomplishments and say good-bye to our 2015 student
teachers (soon to be alumni!), but it is time for a new beginning as the 2016
student teachers rise to become seniors. Last night, Teach Ag! Society,
Collegiate FFA, and Collegiate 4-H, all came together to recognize club accomplishments
and say good-bye to their graduating members in their clubs.
As the night
started, we were fortunate enough to have several guests and attendants come
celebrate our Penn State student success. In the crowd, was our keynote speaker
Mr. Bill Fleet. Bill has had several accomplishments in and out of the
agriculture industry and is even a Penn State Alumni! His speech was based on
how teachers make an impact everyday on our student’s lives. After his speech
concluded, every single person in that room, teacher or not, was effected by
his kind words.
Following the
keynote, there were awards that were presented to special people that were
nominated by Teach Ag! Society of having accomplishments in the agriculture
education career, in the agriculture industry, and being an outstanding member in
Teach Ag! Society. Those people that were selected for at award are outlined
below!
Jessica Morgan
Educator of the Year Award
Teacher at Juniata High School
Samantha Sessamen
Outstanding Teach Ag! Member
of the Year Award
2016 Student Teacher
As the banquet
awards were passed out, pictures were taken, and the night was coming to a
close, there was a special video that was created just for the seniors! If you
would like to view the video check it out below!
Overall it was
a memorable night for the seniors and all that were in attendance!
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!
September 25th was National Teach Ag Day and Penn State participated in numerous ways. It was an exciting and busy day so in case you missed any thing here are the top ten things that happened at Penn State!
10. Our social media presence was strong with tons of tweets, Facebook and Instagram posts!
9. Our viewing party of the live webcast was a hit with many Penn State students there to check it out!
8. We entered the National Collegiate photo contest!
7. We shared many "Why Ag Ed?" videos across various social media platforms that featured Penn State students, PA FFA members and Agriculture educators.
6. Our faculty breakfast in appreciation of the professors at Penn State was a huge success!
5. We sent over 100 Thank You cards to Agriculture educators all across the state!
4. Our YouTube video in celebration of National Teach Ag Day received over 175 views that day!
3. We had many big name companies follow us on twitter including PA Farm Bureau and New Holland!
2. Our very own Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg stopped by the Teach Ag popcorn
stand!
1. Ellen Thompson summed it up best went she gave us a shout out on the National Live Stream of the days events. She stated "They do things big there at Penn State!"
Thank you to everyone who helped make the 2014 National Teach Ag Day a huge success!
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!
Laura Metrick @Its_LauraBeth Student Blogger 2015 Student Teacher
Since it is the beginning of the school year, the Teach Ag! Society would like to welcome you to the new school year! If you have
never heard of Teach! Ag Society, we are a group of motivated agriculture education students who do activities
involving the Agriculture Education major and complete other educational events throughout
the year! You don't have to be in the major to join this awesome organization! If you don’t know the officers, we would like to introduce you to
the team.
If you see any of the officers or committee chairs, feel free to stop by and ask them questions! We just had our Welcome Back Picnic, so keep in touch with our future events! Keep checking your Teach Ag Tuesday Email Blast's (to be added to the listserv email foster@psu.edu) for more information and when our meetings are going to be held!
Become apart of the Ag Ed TEAM!
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!
It is that time of year again where the birds are chirping,
the sun is out, and banquet season is among us! For most FFA chapters, there is
a banquet once a year to recognize student and chapter success. Students in the
Agriculture Education major took it upon themselves to hold a banquet to
recognize our student teachers, clubs, and our college success.
The banquet has been in the planning process for a while and
we are proud to say that there are a ton of new and exciting things that will
be happening! For starters, we all know that the student teachers get an
awesome gift, there will be a photo booth with tons of props that people can
use in the pictures, as well as a special guest speaker that will be coming to
give a speech! You may have heard of her as the ACTE Teacher of the Year or a recipient
for the NAAE Teacher mentor award, but she is one of the finest teachers in the
business! Tara Berescik, Tri-Valley Central School teacher in New York, is
coming to this year’s banquet!
Tara has been teaching agriculture for 11 years and has been
an influence on many people’s lives. Every person that she meets she always
makes sure to leave a lasting impression. After talking to Tara more, she told
me how excited she is to come to the banquet! “I'm
excited to get to see Penn State since I have never been there before and I
have lots of Ag Teacher friends who have graduated from the school and say
wonderful things,” she explained. Her presence at the banquet will be one to
remember!
If you would like to come to the
banquet, you must RSVP by April 14th! The banquet will be held on
the April 29th at the Mount Nittany Middle School. If you have any
problems or questions, feel free to contact Deanna Miller at, dwm5353@psu.edu.
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!
Note from the Editor: The following is an excerpt/observation of Jillian Gordon, a 2015 student teacher candidate and a participant in the 1st annual PSU Teach Ag Society Domestic Study Abroad Trip to Arizona. The Trip was for 8 days, and 13 teacher candidates traveled over 1500 miles visiting 6 outstanding programs (2 urban, 2 rural, 2 reservation) and 3 state/national parks. A huge thank you to the CHS Foundation for their continued support of the National Teach Ag Campaign and programs to prepare multiculturally competent agriscience teachers for the world! This is the first of what we hope to be several installments of observations by members who attended the trip.
Sitting off by myself, I stared off into the Grand Canyon, wonder and curiosity sifting through my brain. The site of the sheer enormity offered by the Grand Canyon put me in a place that I had never really thought about before. Regardless of how long you stare, you will never really take it all in. Regardless of how hard you try, it would be almost impossible to see every last piece of it and appreciate it for all that it’s worth. Thinking to myself, things began to click. I am a huge fan of cheesy metaphors, and this one might have just been the best I’d had yet. Travelling across the country to see all of these amazing agricultural science programs in Arizona, I thought it was only fitting we stopped at Grand Canyon National Park to see one of the wonders of the world. And if you really think about it, the Grand Canyon and Agricultural Education have a lot in common. Now before you write me off as nutty, before you start wondering who exactly let this crazy girl on this trip, how about I get you a little context, shall we?
I like to call myself an agricultural education junkie, and in May I was able to get my fix and scurry across the country to see the Grand Canyon State with Penn State’s Teach Ag Society on their first every Domestic Study Abroad Trip made possible by a generous sponsorship from the CHS Foundation. Ever since I had first signed up for the trip, I was counting down the days until the semester ended and I was boarding a plane. When the trip finally came around however, the departure was not what I was expecting. I was sick from an ill-timed head cold, queasy from the shaky landing that the Phoenix airport offered it’s travelers, and worn out from a hectic semester. At first, the trip that I had been so excited about seemed to turn into something that I was dreading. I will be honest, for the majority of the trip my body felt miserable. My mind, however, was healthier than it had been in a long time.
After travelling over 1500 miles across the Grand Canyon State, I am sure that you could guess that I took in plenty of remarkable sites. I was able to see the desert landscape, something that until then I had only pictured in my head as a Road Runner cartoon. It was refreshing to see that Arizona was nothing like I had imagined, after driving through beautiful state forests and finally the mesas and red rocks of the north. Travelling north onto the Navajo Reservation, I was able to see the beautiful Canyon De Chelly and as previously mentioned, Grand Canyon National Park.
The sites were beautiful. The truly touching experience, however, was the reason we came in the first place, to see what ag education was like on the other side of the country.
Looking back, I couldn't think of a more fulfilling and diverse experience in learning about school-based secondary agricultural education than the one we had in Arizona. From urban to rural, to schools on the Navajo reservation, the variety of programs we saw was mind-boggling. The more rural schools of Payson and Chino offered facilities unlike most of what we can see in Pennsylvania. A full working farm at Chino gave students the opportunity to truly have hands on experiences to supplement what they were learning in the classroom. While visiting Payson we were able to see a facility that was completely separate from the rest of the school, a show barn that allowed students to house their project animals and learn how to care for these animals. Heading further north to Monument Valley and Many Farms, I received a lesson not only on agricultural education in the area, but also the difference in culture. We were able to engage in Native American education delivered by a state public school, Monument Valley (A school noted by Time Magazine Schools that Work) and a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) boarding school in Many Farms. Students who I at first perceived to be so different from myself were more similar than I could have imagined. With seemingly all 49 states in between our homes, who could have guessed that I would have clicked with these students just as I do with students here in Pennsylvania?
The more urban schools of Peoria and Gilbert offered the same shock and awe of the previous schools. Although each program was so amazing different, each program fit exactly what their community needed, making them each equally successful. While every program we visited was completely different from the next, there were two common factors throughout the entire trip, passion and dedication. When talking to students about their involvement in their programs, you could see their eyes glisten and their smiles just light up when thinking about the experiences they've had. All of the teachers we interacted with had the passion and dedication to their students. I watched an ag educator choke on her words when talking about having to leave her program to move closer to her husband. I was just about ready to cry along with her. To put it simply, students are students and Ag Teachers are Ag Teachers! No matter where you go, they are passionate, they are curious and they are smart. Students are capable of more than you could ever predict. On top of that, I was able to see that no matter where you go agricultural educators put students first.
So now you’re wondering, “how exactly is the Grand Canyon like Ag Education?” From the perspective of the student, the Agricultural Education profession can have an impact as vast as the Grand Canyon itself. The student might not ever be able to see just how large the impact their teacher has not only on them but also on their peers. But neither will the teacher. Now does this mean that ag educators are the be all and end all? That once they've impacted a few of their students that their job is done? Absolutely not. When we compare the size of the Grand Canyon to the immensity of our planet itself, it seems rather, small doesn't it? That does not mean that it’s influence and power to awe is any less meaningful. It simply means that that Ag Education always striving for more. When a great teacher is matched with their students, an outcome occurs that is as amazing of any of The Seven Wonders of the World. This trip has lit a fire under me unlike any other, and I am excited to see where the best job in the world takes me someday.
Often, I have heard agricultural education majors talk about hoping to stay close to home when applying for teaching jobs. I get that, I understand wanting to go back to the program that helped encourage us to want to teach in the first place. But, we are lucky in Pennsylvania as that currently we do not have any openings going unfilled. After seeing how unequivocally unique but also shockingly similar school-based agricultural education is in Arizona, I have to ask myself how could I ever NOT want to go anywhere that this profession calls?
This blog was written by Jillian Gordon, 2015 Student Teaching Candidate. Jill is also serving as a 2013-2014 National Teach Ag Ambassador.
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!
Ms. Jillian Gordon
Student Blogger
2015 Student Teacher
@jillianpsu 2013-2014 National Teach Ag! Ambassador
Students exploring the greenhouses at W.B. Saul High School.
It is hard to narrow
down my favorite experience but one of my favorite parts of the trip was
visiting and comparing the different schools. We first visited Milton
Hershey. It was incredible to see the facilities and opportunities with which
they provided their students. Our tour guide informed us that students could
enter with only the clothes on their back and the school would clothe, feed,
and provide them medical care. In addition, each student lives in a private
home with "house parents." We learned that upon graduation, each
student was given $500 to purchase anything they wanted to include in their
"senior bag," as well as a laptop and an $80,000 scholarship if good
grades were maintained.
Next we visited the agricultural program at Conrad Weiser. This program focused
heavily on science-based curriculum which was evident upon viewing their
laboratory, greenhouse, library, and biotechnology facility. The program also
had a vineyard and barn. The program exemplified the importance of science
within the agricultural industry. Mr. Serfass encourages his students to read
and pursue experiments that intrigue them.
Finally, we visited W.B. Saul, an inner city agricultural high school. This
program was amazing because they had their own meats lab, multiple barns,
riding arena, and classrooms devoted to each facet of agricultural education.
We were fortunate enough to teach a lesson encompassing the importance of
higher education. It was awesome to interact with students attending a strictly
agricultural high school in the middle of a large city!
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
