A Connection of Ag Teachers!

 On Tuesday April 2nd, I got to attend the Eastern Regional PAAE Meeting at Conrad Weiser High School! This brought back a lot of memories because this is where our County Speaking Contest was held when I was in high school! This was a fun evening that I got to attend with other Ag Teachers from across the region. 

For Dinner, we had Panera Sandwiches and Salads which were very good! Then we moved into their Large Group Instruction Room where we held the meeting. It was very interesting to hear from some of the leaders in our region and all of the awesome things going on in the Agricultural Education World. 

The first up to speak was Sherisa Nailor who is our organization's current President. She talked about the success of the Annual region 6 NAAE Conference that was held in Harrisburg. I loved hearing about the things that happened during this event, as I was not able to attend. She also mentioned the importance of stepping up into leadership roles, as there will be spots to fill in the coming future in PAAE, FFA Foundation Board, and others. 

It was interesting to hear about the Ag Ed Summit, that occurred in Indianapolis in January. They were talking a lot about the future of Agriculture Education and the importance of different aspects. 

Thomas Gabel, as the Secretary of the organization talked a lot about the organization and where they are at with numbers. It was also mentioned how there are over 300 ag teachers in PA, and not even half of them are in the organization. Thomas also talked about the professional development scholarships that were handed out over the past year. This is important for me to take note of, as I will want to use these in the coming years. 

We also got to hear from Stephon Fitzpatrick about the commission for Agricultural Excellence. I really enjoyed hearing about the allocation of funds to help support ag teachers in all different levels. They want to provide money to cover the costs of PSU Seniors to attend the NAAE meeting, Professional Development Scholarships for teachers, and other causes. 

Overall, I think that it was a great night getting to interact with other teachers who have been in the profession for a while. I think it was also cool to connect with other teachers who are in their beginning years of teaching!

I am so excited to attend the Summer PAAE Conference in Western PA and connect with teachers from across the state!

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