Story by Deanna Reid, master’s student
Kansas State agricultural education faculty and students participated in the 2018 Kansas FFA State Conference of Chapter Leaders at the beginning of July. More than 150 Kansas FFA members came together at Rock Springs 4-H Center for three days to form effective leadership teams for their chapters.
During that time, they competed in a scavenger hunt, packaged more than 30,000 meals for local food banks and met other leaders from across Kansas.
Story by Anissa Zagonel, master’s student
Commencement 2018 for agricultural education and agricultural communications and journalism undergraduate students took place at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 12, in Bramlage Coli
seum.
Don Boggs, associate dean of academic programs, gave the introduction and recognition of faculty awards, while Shannon Washburn, assistant dean of academic programs, recognized graduates in the College of Agriculture with honors. The commencement address was given by Kansas State University President, Richard B. Meyers, and the student address to the graduates was given by Jeff Hadachek, an agricultural economics graduate. Department Head Jason Ellis ’98 presented degrees to our department graduates.
Agricultural education graduates include: Michael Adame, Matthew Anguiano, Ellen Blackwell, Paxton Boore, Mallory Burton, Cassie Campbell, Zachariah Cooper, Dane Cummings, Chelsey Figge, Wyatt Maurer, Michaela McKenzie, Ty Nienke, Josephine Reilly, Elizabeth Rogers, Baylee Siemens, Alexandra Walters, Caitlyn Wedel and James Weller.
Agricultural communications and journalism graduated include: Samantha Albers, Shaylee Arpin, Shannon Barry, Kelsie Beaudoin, Chelsie Calliham, Elizabeth Cooper, Ashley Fitzsimmons, Jacqueline Newland, Lauren Peterson, Karli Pryor, Hannah Schlapp, Jill Seiler and Chantelle Simon. 
From our graduate program, Randi J. Ernest received a master’s of science in agricultural education and communication at 1 p.m. Friday, May 11, in Bramlage Coliseum.
Story by Anissa Zagonel, master’s student
To kick off the summer, 11 students traveled to the Czech Republic. The diverse group ranged from graduate to undergraduate level with academic majors from feed science to agricultural economics, the majority being agricultural education majors. This 12-day intensive study abroad trip was led by Gaea (Wimmer) Hock ’03, ’06, associate professor.
During their time abroad, students were introduced to agricultural production management and processing practices and cultural aspects of the country. Students visited a crop research facility, private vegetable farms, a vineyard, dairy and beef cattle operations, hop farms and a brewery, university and vocational schools, and governmental agencies.
Agricultural education student Zach Callaghan says, “My favorite moments during the trip were the spontaneous, unplanned experiences where we got to tap into our natural sense of adventure. It seemed that every corner you turned, there was an abundance of history and something new to discover.”
Throughout the spring semester, attendees prepared for this trip through weekly meetings to get acquainted with Czech history, culture, and agriculture. In addition, the group was also able to meet and converse with Czech students studying abroad at K-State about their upcoming trip.
For more details about their stops while abroad and to see more about their adventures, “Czech” out their blog link at experienceagricultureabroad.wordpress.com.
Story by Deanna Reid, master’s student
The communications and agricultural education department hosted the “Tagged to Teach Ag” event on April 30. This event brought more than 250 FFA members from high schools across the state to the Manhattan campus to learn more about what it means to be an agricultural educator.
Current Kansas State University agricultural education students and faculty gave presentations about the program and future career options. Information about the agricultural education degree and other K-State programs was also available.
FFA members also enjoyed ice cream from Call Hall and fresh cookies from the grain science and industry department while they played interactive games, collected “ag swag” and prizes and took photos with Willie the Wildcat at the “Tagged to Teach Ag” photo booth.
“We would like to give special thanks to the ag ed students, FFA advisors and presenters for making this a great event,” said Instructor Brandie Disberger, one of the event organizers. “We hope everyone considers teaching ag as a career!”
Story by Anissa Zagonel, master’s student
Each year, departments in the College of Agriculture select an outstanding graduating senior from each academic major. The Department of Communications and Agricultural Education chose Alex Walters 
from agricultural education and Jill Seiler from agricultural communications and journalism.
The award is based on academic achievement, department involvement, leadership roles and work experience related to their respective major.
Walters served as vice president of the K-State Agricultural Education Club. She also was a member of the Teach Ag Students of Kansas recruitment team, College of Agriculture Ambassadors and Sigma Alpha professional sorority. She completed internships with AgReliant Genetics and K-State Research and Extension in Scott City, Kansas. Most recently, Walters has been completing her teaching internship at Haven High School. Next fall, she will begin her role as an agricultural education teacher at Peabody-Burns High School.
Seiler served as president and vice president of the K-State Chapter of Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) and currently is the National ACT vice president. Seiler was part of the editorial group for the spring 2018 issue of the Kansas State Agriculturist. She was also a member of National Agri-Marketing Team, College of Agriculture Ambassadors, dairy cattle judging team, and other organizations and teams. She has completed internships with Wisconsin Holstein Association, Kansas Dairy and Certified Angus Beef.
Congratulations to these seniors and all those who graduated in May. We wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors.
Story by Anissa Zagonel, master’s student
At the end of April, Agricultural Education Club members built and painted beehives to help the Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) with a local service project for the Servicemember Agricultural Vocation Education Farm. As part of National Volunteer Month, KDA employees worked with students to help save bees through the SAVE Farm located near Manhattan, w
hich helps veterans and service members find a pathway to farming.
Club members volunteered more than 50 hours by painting and constructing beehives. The SAVE Farm will sell the beehives to increase the presence of bees for hobbyists or commercial businesses. Money from the beehives is used to hire veterans and support the rest of the SAVE Farm.
Beekeeping classes are offered for veterans, which give them hands-on training of the basic beekeeping culminating in harvesting and bottling honey. With the help of a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, the SAVE Farm plans to grow its apiaries to 500 colonies over the next two and a half years.
For more information, visit http://www.thesavefarm.org/.
Dr. Gaea (Wimmer) Hock (’03, ’06) assisted with the Western Kansas Youth Water Advocates Conference in Garden City, March 23–24.
This conference helps high school FFA members learn more about water issues and develop skills for advocating in their communities. Ten students from six FFA chapters participated in the event.
Dr. Hock taught sessions about considering the target audience and the basics of research. Melissa Poet (’17) and Russell Plaschka co-hosted this conference and served as mentors for students and sponsors for the event. Poet currently teaches agricultural education at Greeley County High School, and Plaschka serves as the Career and Workforce Development Specialist at the Kansas Department of Agriculture.
Story by Anissa Zagonel, master’s student
The Agricultural Education Club and the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) club each hosted a booth at the university-wide K-State Open House on Saturday, April 7. These booths were among many in the College of Agriculture (COA) “hub,” where several other agricultural student organizations hosted booths.
The weather wasn’t ideal, so the agricultural organizations’ booths were housed inside Waters Hall. However, it didn’t stop alumni, kids, or students from visiting campus for this fun weekend event.
The AgEd Club coordinated the COA Scavenger Hunt with the help 
of Matthew Schick, a junior in agricultural education, who spearheaded the event for the club. He gathered donations from 13 different organizations to sponsor over 300 printed t-shirts. Individuals who visited the booth and completed the scavenger hunt earned a free t-shirt, while student volunteers passed out scavenger hunt cards and t-shirts.
Continue reading “Student organizations take part in university Open House”
Story by Anissa Zagonel, master’s student
K-State agricultural education student teaching interns recently participated in two days of professional development for the Ag Ed Enhancing Pre-Service Instruction (EPIC) Experience sponsored by Kansas Corn Commission. Students were able to tour and talk with various production agricultural sectors in Garden City, Kansas.
During the tour, students:
Story by Anissa Zagonel, master’s student
At the beginning of February, the AgEd Club hosted their annual KSU Speech Contest in Bluemont Hall. There were over 180 Kansas FFA members competing and 45 K-State students helping throughout the day.
Categories of speeches included freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, creed, and extemporaneous.
