Attending the Western Region PAAE Spring Meeting

            My second to last day of student teaching was filled with so many quintessential Ag Teacher experiences. In the morning, we competed in the county Envirothon. I had helped to train the team through the curriculum I taught in my Natural Resources course as well as study sessions during homeroom in the months leading up. Half of the students had completed the previous year, placing second, eager to get first place this year. The other half of the students were just as invested because their drive was contagious. I will never forget how excited all of my students and I were when they announced that they had won first place.

            Immediately following the school day, I drove an hour and a half with my cooperating teacher to attend the Western Region Pennsylvania Association of Agricultural Educators biannual meeting. These meetings are a time for Ag teachers to get and give updates about what is happening in the Ag Ed world that is important to share. For instance, from FFA they announced that the organization is working on changing the format of how competitions are run, introducing the idea of invitationals–where specific chapters or students are invited to compete in a specific location–and challenges–which are geared towards chapters completing within their school. 

            Along with updates from organizations including FFA, Penn State, the PA Farm Bureau, and PAAE, teachers were also able to give updates, ask questions, and pitch ideas. My cooperating teacher pitched the idea of holding a professional development for Floral Design. Other meeting attendees then began to brainstorm and trouble shoot ideas to figure out how we can run this professional development. By the end of the brainstorm, there was a concrete idea of first steps to take in order to see it through. It was neat to see the process from a pitch, to a couple first steps, and hopefully to a unique professional development opportunity down the line.

            It was especially neat to see all of the western region Ag teachers at this meeting because I had met quite a few of them during my second week of teaching. My cooperating teacher, along with the help of the floral design students, put together a Western Region Floral Competition. Nearly 100 students competed, coming from schools all over the western region. Through this event, I was able to meet the teachers bringing their students to compete. Seeing many of the same teachers at the Western Region PAAE meeting, it was a full circle moment. It was cool to compare how nervous I was meeting them to how they feel like peers nearly 15 weeks later.