Ohio State’s agriscience education students celebrated the annual National Teach Ag Day on September 21, 2017. Each September, the National Teach Ag Campaign celebrates the profound impact agriculture teachers across the nation make in their schools and communities on National Teach Ag Day.
Outreach and celebration for the agricultural education profession was done at Farm Science Review, an annual event coordinated and hosted by The Ohio State University at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center in London, Ohio.
At the event, seniors majoring in agriscience education presented demonstrations and lessons on agricultural topics ranging from energy to wetlands and magnetic water to soil layers to high school students and the general public visiting the Gwynne Conservation Area. These students also served as guides for the wagon tours of the Area.
National Teach Ag Day also serves as a venue to address the current, nationwide agriculture teacher demand by encouraging others to pursue a career in agriculture education. School districts and communities across the country value the integrated agricultural education delivery model that combines classroom and lab instruction, leadership development through FFA, and experiential learning.
In the Bailey Building, undergraduate agriscience education majors talked with high school students about the agricultural education profession, why he/she decided to pursue a career in that field and talk about the need for more agricultural educators in high schools.
“Recruiting students to embark on the journey to teach ag has become a passion of mine and is so rewarding to see their same fire and excitement to become ag teachers,” said Kelse Brown, a senior majoring in agriscience education and a National Teach Ag Campaign ambassador. “The profession is so much more than being a teacher, as they invest in the lives and futures of their students. My ag teacher is someone I will also look up to as a role model and I will forever be thankful for what he has taught me.”
The agriscience education major at Ohio State, which began in 1917, prepares its students you to acquire a license to teach agricultural science in secondary high schools in Ohio and across the country, with extensive training in agricultural science, educational psychology, instructional methods, and youth development.
“Ohio State has been educating agriculture teachers for more than 100 years,” said Dr. Tracy Kitchel, professor and chair of the Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership. “As we celebrate our centennial during 2017, we reflect on our reach history with agricultural education in Ohio and across the country while looking forward to developing innovative ways we can prepare our aspiring agricultural educators so they, in turn, can cultivate the future of our agricultural industry.”
For additional information on the agriscience education major, visit acel.osu.edu or call 614.247.6358.