Guest Blogger: From the Ground Up: Starting a New Program In a New School as a New Teacher!

Editor's note: This blog is part of a series of guest contributors from the National school-based agricultural education family. Ms. Laura Metrick has been the Agriculture Educator and FFA Advisor at Union City Middle/High School since her graduation from Penn State in 2015. She was raised on a fruit and vegetable farm in Butler, PA where she also showed livestock in 4-H.

The summer after graduation is a crazy few months of figuring out how to survive outside of a college campus, missing your friends that you spent the last four years with and of course job searching. August came around and I was working on the family farm but still searching for the right fit in the world of Agriculture Education. In the blink of an eye I found myself interviewing for a position at Union City High School. I received the call that I got the job and now I had two weeks to get my classroom ready, plan the instruction for my classes and find a place to live. If that doesn’t sound crazy enough, it gets better.

I was walking into a school that hasn’t had an agriculture program or an FFA Chapter in over thirty years. I was beyond excited to get started but I was also totally freaking out. Then I realized that no matter how scary it was, I had an opportunity that many Agriculture Educators never have. I had the chance to build a program from scratch. The framework for the program was there but the rest was up to me.

So much happened in that first year of teaching and I saw it all. The good, the bad and the ugly. Looking back on the whole experience here are my biggest take aways and lessons learned about not only my first year teaching, but building a program from the ground up.

The 1st Union City FFA Jacket!

1. Build a strong foundation

“You can’t build a great building on a weak foundation.” This quote proved to be nothing but true during my first year teaching. I had to step back and really start from the bottom and work my way up. Very few people here really knew anything about agriculture education or FFA. Not the students, not my fellow teachers, not the community. My first year was less of promoting my program and more about teaching people what it was. I gave a lot of speeches about how agriculture education is more than just farming and how the FFA is more than just another club.

2. Know your school , Know your community

The folks in your school and community can be some of the biggest and best supporters of your program but you have to find a way to reach out to them first. By talking with school administration and teachers in my building I made so many helpful connections. Our cafeteria manager lives on a local dairy farm and offered a tour of their facilities anytime and the health teacher’s family owns the local greenhouse and floral shop in town just to name a few. It’s also important to make connections other than agricultural ones. The school is kind of like one big family. Once you get to know them and make those connections they will have your back and support your program.

Not only is it important to know the people in your school but also getting to know the community is huge! The county farm bureau invited us to their annual meeting & donated an FFA jacket to our program and the local Co-Op sets up a booth promoting our fundraisers just to name a few. I am truly blessed to be in a community that has played a huge role in getting the Agriculture program back in to the school and they have been an incredible asset this past year. However, you must always keep in mind that this is a two way street. The communities willingness to help us out is great, but we cannot forget to give back to them. Go out into your community and get involved!

Receiving our official charter at PA FFA Mid-Winter!

3. Building Blocks

One thing that was unique to my first year was getting all the building blocks together to create an approved agriculture education program. To start, we had no curriculum so I spent a lot of late nights writing lessons and course outlines in order to build these classes into what I wanted and what the students deserved. This year it is easier because I had the opportunity to attend the Introduction to Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources CASE conference in New York and I had my curriculum from last year to work with. The administration and I also spent a lot of time writing grants to get equipment, supplies and curriculum to build our program up!

Outside of the classroom we spent a lot of time getting things together for our program approval, our FFA Charter and developing our Occupational Advisory Committee. This has been a truly amazing experience getting to see and be a part of the whole process. The icing on the cake was taking a group of students to the Mid-Winter Convention in Harrisburg where we officially received our FFA Charter!

4. Use your network of professionals

You know all those people you meet in college that give you their email address or phone number and say to call if you need anything? Keep those numbers! I can’t tell you how many times I called members of my student teaching co-hort, my cooperating teacher, other teachers in the county, and so many others in the world of Ag. Ed. Everyone was willing to share lessons, ideas, and advice and they helped so much all year long. Don’t be afraid to reach out!

5. Take small steps but never let go of the big goals

I wanted to give my students the experience of every FFA conference and every CDE competition. I wanted to have a big spring banquet, go to national convention and rock out some killer fundraisers throughout the year. However, as the year went on I realized that I was dreaming too big. We will get to that point but right then what we needed was small steps. The program must learn to walk before it starts to run.

Working on Union City FFA Homecoming Float!
(1st Place!)

We had the chance to go to local CDE competitions, the Mid-Winter Convention and we had an awesome spring banquet! We built our foundation and got our feet wet. Now that the program has a base to start with, we are able to dive right in and build from where we left off last year. I just have to keep in mind that In order to reach those big goals someday, I first have to start with small but meaningful steps.

6. Never forget why you started.

You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again. The first year of teaching is hard and I hate to break it to you but so is the second. However, I promise you, it’s worth it. No matter how stressed you are, no matter how much you think a lesson flopped, no matter if you are having a bad day; you are making a difference.

My first year of teaching was one of the most challenging years of my life but it was hands down the most rewarding year of my life as well. I learned so much about teaching, about students and about myself. I was also reminded of why I chose the career that I did. As an agriculture educator you have the opportunity to change the lives of student’s while making a positive impact on the community around you. You have the opportunity to prepare students for career success. You have the opportunity to make a difference!

Laura Metrick, Agriscience Teacher

2015 @TeachAgPSU Graduate (#psuaged15)
Union City Middle/High School
lmetrick@ucasd.org
@Its_LauraBeth