Editor's Note: This blog is part of a series of guest contributors from the national school-based agricultural education family. Ms. Elise Brown is the agriculture instructor and FFA advisor at Turkey Run Jr./Sr. High School and Rockville Jr./Sr. High School in Indiana. This is her first year of teaching. Prior to serving as a teacher, she was a communications director for a conservation agriculture nonprofit. She also has worked as an intern for a radio station's farm department, a writer for two university agricultural communication departments and as a public affairs intern for the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service.
My path to teaching is, perhaps, unconventional. I have completed only three months of my first year, and it has been a challenge. I did no student teaching, had no prepared materials and was hired ten days before school started.
Despite these obstacles, I have been finding that my greatest asset has been my previous experience in industry and connections in the community.
I graduated from Purdue with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Communication and from Penn State with the non-teacher certification Master of Science in Agricultural and Extension Education. I was planning on pursuing a career as an extension educator after moving back to Indiana. However, some twists and turns took me to a communications position for a year and a half before moving back home to the farm and doing some substitute teaching in two local schools.
Toward the end of the school year, one of the junior high science teachers went on sick leave, and I was a substitute for her classes for six weeks. The principal learned about my teaching style and experience. Then, when the agriculture teacher at my high school alma mater resigned two weeks before school started in August, I was asked if I was interested in the position. I interviewed and was hired within three days of that initial contact.
It was all quite a whirlwind. But one thing I'm finding is that my experience in the industry and my connections within the community are helping tremendously. Indiana has licensing options for those with advanced degrees and/or a certain amount of workplace experience, and I am able to take advantage of these opportunities. And in the classroom, I can talk about internships, my previous job and farm experience, living in another state, professionals I've visited with or interviewed and more.
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| Guest speaker Dave Davies (center), an agriculture teacher from Indianapolis, gives some insight into leadership and urban agriculture to students from my rural school. |
But it's not just my own experiences that can be valuable in the classroom: the experiences of others who are well-versed in agriculture are of tremendous value. Guest speakers are a way to bring the students' community into the classroom. Often, when the students know the speakers, they are able to connect easily with them. The community also has the chance to see the good work the teacher is doing in the classroom, and support for the agriculture program can be gained through that interaction. That support is invaluable as the schools continually look for ways to improve and shape the curriculum for the betterment of the community.
Guest speakers also can bring a whole new world to the students. Recently, I had the opportunity to bring in an agriculture teacher from Indianapolis. He discussed the perceptions that urban students have of the farm and other agricultural pursuits. To my rural students, some of their ideas sounded far-fetched, but he explained the urban students had never seen some of the aspects of life that were so common to my rural students.
One tool that a teacher can use to shape the agriculture department is an agricultural advisory board. The ag advisory board helps the agriculture teacher choose the best courses for the students and gives direction based on the community's needs. The board is a diverse group and can represent many interests, such as farmers, agribusinesses, federal agencies, other educators and more.
Community members also can help with field trips and coaching for FFA Career Development Events. Taking an animal science class to a local farm to understand how the livestock and crops complement each other in the operation or taking a horticulture class to a local nursing home to deliver flowers they grew is a great way to connect with community members. Spreading out a heavy workload of coaching several FFA teams at the same time will help the teacher's load tremendously, and parents and other supporters often enjoy the opportunity to help young people prepare for competitions. Always let others know what your needs are.
After all, you never know when you'll mention a need and receive more than you imagined you could. Toward the beginning of the year, I called the local Soil and Water Conservation District office to inquire about the price of a rain barrel for our greenhouse. A few days later, the president of the district informed me that the district would be donating a rain barrel to both of the county's FFA chapters. I had not asked for the donation (although there are certainly times when a donation can be requested!), but through the relationships I had already built up with the Soil and Water Conservation District employees, we received the rain barrel and even benefited a neighboring FFA chapter.
So to keep it real, establish relationships with those around you. In your agricultural education program, you don't have to know everything....you just need to know who knows the topic your students need to know. Then, find a way to connect the students with the experts. This tremendously helps your workload and provides the students with invaluable experiences and connections.
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Author Elise Brown
Feel free to contact me at browne@ncp.k12.in.us. You also can find me on Twitter.
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