Last week, we had the opportunity to travel to San Antonio Texas for the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) Convention. This trip was definitely a highlight of my Penn State experience! It was such an incredible experience to engage with so many Ag Ed teachers, pre-service teachers and professionals in such a stunning and historic city.

We were able to participate in our own workshops as members of the Future Agri-Science Teachers (FAST) symposium, as well as join with practicing Ag teachers in general workshops. These workshops were designed to help broaden our skill base as future and current agriculture teachers by providing some hands-on experience with content across a wide variety of agriculture topics. One of my favorite workshops was led by Mrs. Krista Pontius, Ms. Kim O'Byrn, and Dr. Laura Hasselquist, all of whom are National Agriscience Ambassadors. They did a workshop on inquiry-based instruction using interactive notebooks and lab activities that allow students to take charge over their learning. We did a lab where students designed their own experiment on determining if the filling in a double stuffed Oreo cookie was double the amount of a regular Oreo. This seemed like such a cool lab to incorporate as a first day warm up lab for my food science class in the spring.

 Another extremely helpful workshop led by Natasha Morreson on communication basics. We learned some cool techniques on how to start and hold conversations, and how to communicate with your school administrators. A related workshop covered some job interviewing skills and resume tips, which was super helpful for a room full of future job-seekers.

 

My favorite part by far was getting to interact with so many different agriculture teachers from around the country as well as those right here in Pennsylvania. I was finally able to put a face to some names for a lot of those teachers, and seeing the support they have for us was incredible. The student teachers even received a standing ovation at our recognition, which was truly touching! I'm looking forward to a long career in n amazing profession with an unparalleled support system!