Brooke Ostrander Starts a New Position at Troy Area Jr/Sr High School Teaching Agriculture

Brooke has an interesting journey of starting her teaching career as she returns to her roots at her home high school, Troy Area Jr/Sr High School. This one-teacher program thrives with 150 students where Brooke leads an active FFA chapter. She will be teaching classes of Food in Agribusiness, Forestry, Introduction to Agricultural Education, Biotechnology, Welding, Power and Machinery, Wildlife and Natural Resource Management, Animal Studies, and Plant and Soil Studies. 

Brooke's background stems from experiences including youth organizations of 4-H and FFA where she showed Jersey cows and pigs, and serving as a Bradford County Dairy Princess. She shares that her own Agriculture Teacher had a huge influence on leading her to pursuing a career teaching agriculture. While moving onto earning her degree at Penn State, Brooke was involved in the Dairy Science Club, Penn State Altoona Ag Club and Collegiate FFA. 

During Brooke's time gaining student teaching experiences she taught at Wellsboro High School in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania under Melanie Berndtson. While at Wellsboro she taught courses of Animal Science 1 and 2, Plant Science, Natural Resource Management, Introduction to Agriculture, Small Engines and Leadership. Through teaching these courses Brooke has been able to take valuable lessons and skills gained to her own classroom.

It is important to continually grow an Agriculture Education Program for the benefit of students, and Brooke is planning to do this at Troy. She shares "I have big goals and dreams for our program! In the future, I would love to see our program build a greenhouse and I would love to incorporate an agribusiness course. But, my main focus is creating relationships with the students and encouraging them to really get involved and help them accomplish their own dreams and goals for their futures." Not only is Brooke looking forward to teaching classes, but she is extremely excited to be an FFA Advisor. She loved FFA and is looking forward to watching her members grow and succeed through their years in the program.

One piece of advice she wanted to share with other students is based off her favorite quote, "Allow your passion to become your purpose". "The journey may not always be easy, there is going to be bumps, big and small, but if you’re truly passionate about teaching agriculture nothing is going to stop you from following your passion and that passion will directly reflect into your classroom and to your students."

Congratulations Brooke on starting your career at Troy Area Jr./Sr. High School. We can't wait to see what great things you accomplish throughout your time teaching, and the impact you will make on the lives of your students. Good luck on the rest of this year and many more ahead! Keep up with Brooke on social media by following her Twitter @BOstrander2019.

Morgan Bear

CPPD Student Worker

Agricultural & Extension Education

Class of 2023 

Second Year Series: Check-In with Hannah Harris (@han_lou93) of #psuaged15

It's great to keep in touch with our past #TeachAgPSU graduates! By reaching out, we get to learn from the struggles and successes of past #psuaged members, and see what kinds of awesome things they're up to in the classroom and beyond!

Ms. Hannah Harris, #psuaged15 member, with the Nittany Lion Shrine.

In the first post of our Second Year Series for this year, we had the opportunity to catch up with #psuaged15 member, and 2015 Penn State graduate Hannah Harris. 

Ms. Harris was hired in 2016 as the Agriculture Teacher of Troy Area High School, located in Bradford County, PA, where she teaches a wide variety of classes ranging from Animal and Plant production, to Forestry and Power Machine Technology.

We asked Ms. Harris what her most inspiring moment as an agricultural educator has been the past two years, and she says, " It's hard to narrow it down to one event." She goes on to say that one of her best moments was a visit from the Pennsylvania Secretary of Education, Mr. Pedro Rivera. Rivera came to tour Troy Area High School during a visit of several STEM education programs throughout the Commonwealth this fall. Speaking of that visit, she says, "...the best moment was when my perpetually shy student stood right up and volunteered to show him around. She talked his ear off about what we do and showed him out metal shop and I couldn't have been more proud." 

Ms. Hannah Harris (L), alongside some of her students and Mr. Pedro Rivera (R).

A large part of teaching is about adaptability; finding what works and what doesn't within your program and your district. She quickly found that it was important for her, as a teacher, to get others involved in her program. We asked Ms. Harris what she is doing differently compared to her first year teaching, and she says, "...It takes a little extra time to communicate with my officers but it's extremely important that I have learned to delegate certain task for them to complete." 

Ms. Harris's dedication to her students and Troy's Ag program is paying off; not only in these seemingly large breakthroughs, but in small ways as well. Harris stresses the importance of promoting your program, and recommends to ensure that proper time is given to reach out to the community. "I moved to a place that I didn't know and didn't have any friends or family around but that was okay! Go out, meet people, meet teachers, farmers, stakeholders, parents, anyone one that you can. You will never guess how essential those relationships are." She also says to follow through; be sure articles are written, posts are being made, and to get your program out there. "PR is always worth the time." 

We thank Ms. Harris for the wisdom, and wish her the best of luck in continuing her teaching career while making an impact on the students and community of Troy Area High School!

Hunter Kauffman, Student Blogger
Wildlife and Fisheries Science
The Pennsylvania State University
Email: hlk5120@psu.edu
Instagram: kauffman_hunter

Hired! Teacher Candidate Hannah Harris hired at Troy Area High School #psuaged16

In some places tradition is rich, and is woven into the fabric of a place.  In Troy, PA, tradition of an agriculture program dates back to before the FFA Organization began.  The tradition at Troy Area High School will continue with 2015 Teacher Candidate Ms. Hannah Harris.  Congratulations Hannah!

Hannah will bring her Penn State tradition and pride to her classroom next year.  She was actively involved in Teach Ag! Society and was a teaching assistant for Ag Ed 311, where she assisted many other Agriculture & Extension Education majors find their passion for Ag Ed. 

The community of Troy is extremely supportive of the agriculture program. “I have only had time to visit with a few individuals so far and everyone has said how much they love our FFA and our program.”   The agriculture facilities are actually separate from the school in another building. The program runs on a block schedule with classes being one semester each. Hannah will teach a variety of classes each semester consisting of: Welding, Animal Production, Plant Production, Forestry, Power and Machine Technology, Biomechanics and Introduction to Agriculture. Hannah is really excited about the incredible welding facility she will be able to teach in. There are oxy-fuel, MIG, TIG, and stick welders all available. “The time I spent in the shop with students during student teaching is one huge thing I will bring to my classroom. Learning how to delegate, teach and keep everyone safe in the shop is no easy task!”  Troy also has a unique SAE class that meets during an activity period.  

“I was "tagged" by my own high school advisor Sarah Sparks, who now works for the PA FFA Foundation. During my high school experience she was one of the best teachers I had.” Most of the students at Troy have not attended National FFA Convention, and Hannah looks forward to taking them there some day.  “I know it would be an eye- opening experience for them. When my school traveled to Indiana it was an amazing experience that was a huge milestone in my high school career.”   Beyond welding skills and plant and animal facts Hannah hopes to leave her students with the mindset: “You can do anything if you have enough grit.” Best Wishes Hannah!

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