Adventures of an Advis{HERR}: SAE's & Surveys

This student teaching internship obviously creates a lot of unique experiences for me. Some of them intentionally placed throughout the program, others occur organically as I daily progress through this journey. One of these strategically placed experiences is the an SAE visit with one of my students.

One of my first encounters with Midd-West FFA students was this past summer when I participated in several different SAE visits, you can read more about those here. I had an opportunity to host an SAE visit with one of my students that I now know much better then I did the students I met with back in the summer.

Meet Mariah. Mariah is a junior at Midd-West High School, an avid field hockey player with a big personality and bold, adventurous spirit. I appreciate Mariah's willingness to just jump in and try new things. One of them being her SAE, which she chose to do an enterprise in the area of Agriscience Research with a focus on Social Systems.

An example of Mariah's questions

Mariah is interested in determining why the students enrolled in agriculture at Midd-West High School chose to take an agriculture course. There are ten agriculture classes offered at Midd-West High School this semester, all of these students will be asked to complete the survey for Mariah's research.

While Mariah and I met, we discussed the process of ensuring all students will have access to the survey and made sure that her questions were designed to help her accomplish her goal. Mariah finalized her message to the student body so that I could post it on our school's online platform for the students to take in class.

Student responses will be complied for Mariah to determine various themes and patterns in the data. Not only will the results of Mariah's survey help her be able to progress into the state Agriscience Research competition, the data will also be beneficial for the future of the Midd-West Agriculture Program. We discussed these options and designed a timeline and action plan for her to accomplish these tasks during this meeting.

Here's Mariah's message to the students

I am anxious to see the results that Mariah gathers through this surveying and helping her break down the results!

Until the next Advis{HERR} Adventure, K. Janae

Advis{HERR} Adventures: SAE Visits

This student teaching internship obviously creates a lot of unique experiences for me. Some of them intentionally placed throughout the program, others occur organically as I daily progress through this journey. One of these strategically placed experiences is the an SAE visit with one of my students.

One of my first encounters with Midd-West FFA students was this past summer when I participated in several different SAE visits, you can read more about those here. I had an opportunity to host an SAE visit with one of my students that I now know much better then I did the students I met with back in the summer.

Meet Corey. Corey is a hard-working student who recently moved into the Midd-West School District. I appreciate Corey for his willingness to accept responsibility, dedication to assignments and innovative mind.

Midd-West FFA has taken on the responsibility of maintaining the flower beds around the original school sign that sits outside of the administrative building. With a recent addition of a newer school sign outside of the high school, the folks in Buildings and Grounds were looking for some landscaping to be done.

Corey jumped on the opportunity to be the lead on this project. With his previous experiences in CAD Design and Landscape Design, he created a partnership with the Midd-West High School Tech Ed teacher to utilize their software to draw up the design for beds around the school sign. Buildings and Grounds gave Corey and the Midd-West FFA a budget to spend on plants for the bed.

During our meeting, Corey and I discussed the potential for various types of plants to grow in the beds, dimensions, slope and other concerns that may arise in the future of this project. We headed inside from the chilly weather and discussed some goals for Corey to set in the next few months. Corey keeps his records in AET, where members are evaluated on a bi-monthly basis for maintained progress and valuable entries.

Corey has plans to perform a soil test to identify the type of soil he'll be working with at the sign and continue to identify plant varieties that would be a good fit for the needs of this project.

Simply put, I'm excited to get to participate in the progress of this project alongside Corey over the rest of my time here at Midd-West. He's got an immense amount of potential and will surely do big things!

Simply put, I shared in my blog post over the summer about how thankful I am to be in a position where I am a catalyst of impact. SAE Visits allow for just that, impact that stretches outside of the classroom. One of the very many unique components of school-based agriculture education!

Until the Next Advis{HERR} Adventure, K. Janae

Catalyst of Impact

And then I said to myself...

"I cannot wait to be agriculture teacher."

Okay, honestly I say that quite often. It's true, though. I can't wait to have my own classroom, my own tomato plants growing in my greenhouse, my own engines roaring in the shop, my own students discovering, inquiring and developing.

I hopped in my car after completing surgery on a the fence that made up a goat's new home, hit the southbound highway back to Lancaster and through a nerdy ear-to-ear grin I said it... "I can't wait to be an agriculture teacher."

I can explain more about the fence-surgery situation; however, it will make more sense when you understand why I ended up on this farm in the first place. In the life of many agriculture teachers, a summer surely looks very different then other teachers in the building. From conventions, to conferences and meetings to fairs summers go flying by. Throw in SAE visits and the calendar fills up fast. That's where it all happened for me, fence fixing and all - my very first SAE visit.

First things first, Midd-West FFA members are rockstars. You should also know that there is incredible power in the SAE visit. Allow me to explain...

• They allow me to meet my student, in some cases, where they are most comfortable. But also, right, smack dab in the middle of what they are most passionate about. Take Levi for example. A rising freshman, most all that Levi knows and loves revolves around dairy cows. (I of course, was in my element on the Landis farm!) Maybe you missed it, but Levi is a rising freshman and he, along with his uncle operate the family dairy farm which includes two Lely robotic milkers. Levi's SAE visit turned out to be the first time, I, a former dairy princess even, saw robotic milkers in action. But the best part was when Levi excitedly led us into the barn office to explain how the robotic milkers allow for him and his uncle to collect data on the cows production. As Levi maneuvered the windows to show us various stats, he screamed potential!

• It reminds me to be flexible. Mr. Bittner and I started the day out with intentions to visit three students and finished the day visiting five students. I must say, it is terrible convenient when siblings end up being home at the same time! But things change, students don't answer their phone and record-keeping gets neglected over summer. So flexibility it is! Also, being flexible helps make the transition from talking about egg production to white tailed deer production much easier.

Big shout-out to Carly for earning a National Silver medal for her Speciality Animal Production Proficiency Award! 

• My favorite part about SAE visits isn't the chance to see all of my students projects or jobs. It's the fact that I, Miss Herr, not only am their educator but a catalyst of impact. As much as SAE visits are about the here and now, they are about the future. So, while mending the fence for a very curious goat Sam, Mr. Bittner and I discussed the value of a post-secondary education and expanding professional networks. Then Rhode Island Reds turned into SMART goal setting and business planning all around a picnic table in the comfort of their own home. I read this quote shortly after my experiences at Midd-West which I felt summed it up well... "Instruction does much, but encouragement does everything." I want to encourage my students to do more, to be more and SAE visits create a great environment to do such.
  

Simply put, SAE visits are for relationship building, for adventure, for learning (for both teacher and student!), for practice and for planning. Simply put, SAE visits are powerful platforms to serve as a catalyst for impact. 

Simply put, I can't wait to be an agriculture teacher. 

Until next time, 

K. Janae