Welcome to the Agricultural Education Panel Discussion!
The Fourth Discussion
Five well-rounded volunteers are participating, bringing a wealth of knowledge, information, and encouragement to the world of Agricultural Education and its importance in educational curriculums.
There are five topics that the panel discusses. Before continuing the fourth discussion, let’s introduce the panel…each hand-picked to represent a variety of educators and a variety of learning environments.
Ryan, Debra, and Karlee are teachers that work closely with students, developing and delivering comprehensive lessons in the traditional setting. Melissa is a homeschool educator, managing lesson plans while creating and tailoring the best educational environment for her children. Katie is an educator for a community youth group who focuses on bringing agriculture close-to-home for kids that do not have agricultural education within their schools.
Click Here to read an in-depth introduction of each of the educators participating in our panel discussion.
Terms used:
Ag and/or Ag Ed may be used interchangeable for Agricultural Education
The term FFA is used below. FFA, formerly known as Future Farmers of America, is a national organization that is implemented in schools throughout the U.S. It prepares students for an education and career in leadership, science, and business for agricultural pursuits.
Learn more at https://www.ffa.org/
4H refers to the community-based national organization that promotes a multitude of education and skills. In rural communities, 4H groups usually focus on agricultural topics.
Learn more at https://4-h.org/about/what-is-4-h/
The fourth topic:
(NTF asked): If you had the option to incorporate any aspect of Agriculture into your curriculum and/or the local schools curriculum (that you either don't have time to cover or is not offered/allowed), what would you add?
Ryan – Middle School Science Teacher in a Rural School District
“I am lucky enough to be in a school-district that allows me to design my own curriculum in the best way I see fit. While I do incorporate many aspects of sustainability (such as renewable energies and pollution) into my curriculum, there are many opportunities to introduce agriculture into many of the various topics that I teach. As I enter into this new school year, I am going to challenge myself to educate my students on how food is grown and prepared and what their healthiest options are.”
Debra – High school Agricultural Education and FFA teacher in a rural school district
“I would like to add back in more financial/budgeting that they can all apply to real life applications.”
Karlee – High school Spanish teach in a suburban/densely populated school district
“I would like to see the district adopt an Agricultural Education Curriculum or FFA to give students more than one path through high school and help peak their interests. For my own class personally, I would love to attain funding to do a local Spanish Speaking community outreach to give families the resources to live independently or improve quality of life. This could include sustainability, local community gardens to secure cheaper and healthier food for their families and much more.”
Melissa – Home school educator in a rural area
“Something I'm always desiring to add more of in our studies is learning the names of things in nature, whether it be the weeds (flowers) coming up in our field or the birds we see coming to our feeders. I think giving things a name gives more importance to things and therefore gives us all a reason to desire to take care of our land better.”
Katie - Lead educator for youth program located within the city of Columbus, Ohio
“For older students, I would focus very specifically on topics surrounding food justice, and answering hard questions around food accessibility: why is it that sugar & sweetened beverages are marketed specifically to young people & people of color? Why do areas with less net income, on average, have fewer options for fresh fruit & vegetables? If you buy a tomato at a store for a dollar, versus at a farmer’s market for a dollar, where are those dollars going? Why are the top crops in the United States corn, soybeans, and wheat? What is Monsanto? How have lobbyists impacted America’s food system?”
“The answers to these questions give us good ideas about the deep cultural, racial, and economic fractions in our food system, and offer a starting point for how to fix them.”
The fifth topic will add additional insight from our panel!
Read the conclusion and continue reading here.
Click Here to read more about our panel participants.
Find the first discussion Here, the second discussion Here, and third Here.