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Department of Communications and Agricultural Education

Category: August

Internship highlight – Zach Callaghan

by Zach Callaghan, agricultural education student

This summer, I worked as an Educational Program Assistant at the Sunset Zoo in Manhattan. In this role, I primarily spent my time teaching elementary and middle school students during weekly summer camps. Each week was centered around a different theme and focused on teaching the science of animals, nature, and environmental conservation. As a future high school agriculture teacher, this experience helped to build and improve my pedagogical skills by providing opportunities to write curriculum and manage my own classroom. I would definitely recommend this experienceto other Agricultural Education students as it is a great outlet to practice teaching and the curriculum can easily relate to agriculture. With only one semester left until I begin my student teaching experience, I am grateful to have had this opportunity to work with students and teach them a little bit about agriculture along the way!

 

Agricultural Education program home to state FFA officers

by Rachel Waggie, agricultural education and communication master’s student

Of the six state FFA officers elected at the 91st Kansas FFA Convention in May, five are agricultural education majors at K-State this year. Logan Elliott, Asbury, Missouri, president; Abby Goins, Oswego, vice president; Mason Prester, Wilson, sentinel; Lukas Sebesta, Wilson, treasurer; and Elizabeth Wright, Olsburg, secretary, are students in the agricultural education program. Elliott, Prester and Wright are freshmen, while Elliott and Goins are returning students. Agricultural education is well represented and we look forward to seeing what these students accomplish throughout their year in office.

Many wins for students at Ag Media Summit

by Katie Burke, assistant professor in agricultural communications and journalism

Eight students from the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) Kansas State chapter attended the Ag Media Summit in Minneapolis this July. In addition to gaining knowledge from conference sessions, students received numerous awards and recognitions from National ACT. The club won Chapter of the Year for the third year in a row, Janae McKinney (senior in agricultural communications and journalism) was one of the AAEA scholarship winners, and Katherine Wist (senior in agricultural communications and journalism) was elected to the National ACT Officer Team. The K-State club also came back with several Critique and Contest awards: the Kansas State Agriculturist magazine (Fall 2018 issue) won first place in the Publication Division; Katherine Wist won first place in the Infographic Division and placed in three additional divisions; and Mary Marsh (senior in agricultural communications and journalism) won first place in the Short Feature Writing Division. “Kansas State ACT was awarded NACT Chapter of the Year … for their excellence in leadership, education, community service, social activities, and fundraising,” says the NACT Facebook page.

Hock joins national committee

by Rachel Waggie, agricultural education and communication master’s student

Gaea Hock joined the National FFA Agriscience Fair Committee in July. She attended the national selection process and will assist at National FFA Convention in October. Her role on the committee will help strengthen the event in Kansas and across the nation.

The National FFA Agriscience Fair recognizes student researchers studying the application of agricultural scientific principles and emerging technologies in agricultural enterprises. Students can compete in one of the following categories: animal systems; environmental services/natural resource systems; food products and processing systems; plant systems; power, structural and technical systems; and social science.

K-State agricultural education earns national recognition

by Rachel Waggie, agricultural education and communication master’s student

The National Association of Agricultural Educators recently recognized K-State’s agricultural education program as Region II’s Outstanding Post Secondary Agricultural Program. The agricultural education faculty includes Brandie Disberger, Gaea Hock and Jon Ulmer. Congratulations on this well-deserved award.