Western Region PAAE Meeting

I have been a student member of Pennsylvania Association of Agricultural Educators for almost a year. Through this organization, I have attended 3 meetings. One of this organizations purpose is to help Pennsylvania agricultural teachers continue growing with professional development and networking. This past Tuesday I had the opportunity to attend the Western Region PAAE meeting. Here are some points I picked up on during my time there. 

• Network!! Reach out to other companies within the industry in Pennsylvania. You can bring home so much information home to better prepare your students to obtain an industry job. We had the opportunity to speak with Scott Sheely from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. He opened up to us about the need for certain careers in Pennsylvania. He stressed to us the importance of preparing these future workers in our agricultural classrooms. Networking with industry opens up a multitude of doors for your program and students. 

• Professional Development is a vital part of education, especially agricultural education. Technology is constantly changing around us and affecting the way agriculture is. We have to bring these changes into the classroom, but this is on a bigger scale. Tuesday night, we learned about the NOCTI exam. This exam is for completer of the ag program. Through meeting the representative for our area, we can have a better understanding of the exam. This could help us prepare our students or test proctors when the time comes. 

This PAAE meeting has helped me better my network and improve my knowledge. This will help me in the classroom to better prepare my students. I know I am just in an internship position right now, but I see the importance of continuing to grow throughout your career. I plan to grow through the Marine Corps and professional organizations such as PAAE.