Next Steps

What’s next? What do you want in a cooperating center? What are your strongest components of Agricultural education? What are your areas that need improvement?

All of these questions have been running through my mind for quite some time now, and to be completely honest, I didn’t have all of the answers to these questions. I still probably don’t know some of these answers, but what I do know, is that the Penn State Agricultural Education program always has your back. 

This week, I finished my student teaching application, handed in all of my observation hours this far, and did a lot of deeper thinking about what I want my student teaching experience to consist of. These deeper thoughts not only included what would be a good fit for me, but also, what I should be looking for in a cooperating center. 

The bottom line is that we don’t have all of the answers, and we may never have all of the answers. That is why I reached out to three previous Agricultural Education students from Penn State to help me determine the answers to these questions and to give me a little bit of a pep talk as I prepare to embark upon this journey. 

I decided to reach out to three individual all for very different but extremely meaningful reasons. The most recent agricultural educator that I reached out to was Ms. Angela Becker, Ms. Becker has given me a little piece of mind since I have met her, always encouraging me and letting me know that everything will work out. Ms. Becker is from a county out west and is currently student teaching at Manheim Central in Lancaster County, which, happens to be where I am from.  

The next Agricultural Educator that I decided to reach out to was Mrs. Janae (Herr) McMichael. Mrs. McMichael was ironically, a senior and president of my FFA chapter when I was a Freshman in high school. Mrs. McMichael played a huge role in my decision to pursue FFA, Agricultural Education, and Penn State. Mrs. McMichael was a member of the 2015 cohort and is currently back at Lampeter Strasburg High School serving as an Agricultural Educator. 

The last Agricultural Educator that I decided to reach out to was Ms. Quinn Cashell. Ms. Cashell and I met on a complete accident. I had a discussion with Dr. Foster a few weeks ago about the possibility of going outside of the state of  PA to student teach. I originally thought of going to Maryland, Delaware, or Virginia. Maryland ended up being my top choice outside of Pennsylvania due to the proximity both to Penn State and Lancaster County. Dr. Foster had mentioned to me that Ms. Cashell was teaching in Maryland and would fit the requirements for a potential student teaching center, and the rest, is history! 

While talking to these individuals, I asked them to rank the following from 1 being the most influence in determining a cooperating center to 5 being the least influence in determining a cooperating center. 

From this experience, I have found that curriculum and cooperating teacher personalities were fairly large components of deciding where to go for a student teaching internship. I also found that while having a job during this process may be necessary, it is not ideal and should be avoided in order to give 100% to your students and your job as a future educator. 

I will leave you with one of the best pieces of advice that I have received from these mentors.

“Follow your cooperating teacher everywhere! Do everything with them! Do the hard stuff, ask to do the extra stuff, fully embrace and engage in the experience.” -Mrs. Janae McMichael

In the Beginning

Hello all! My name is Kayla Stauffer, and in the blink of an eye, I will have a room full of bright high school students calling me Ms. Stauffer.

While I’m not entirely sure where I will be a year from now, this blog will help me to navigate through this crazy, yet exciting journey that 9 of my closest friends with embark on together. This blog will serve as a safe place for me to express what is going on throughout this journey as well as just reflect on the gems, and "opps" (opportunities) that this journey will create for me. With that being said, here’s a little bit of background on myself and what my agricultural education journey has been thus far.

                I was raised in a small town called Willow Street in the southern end of Lancaster County. I was unfamiliar with FFA until I was introduced to the Junior FFA program in 7^th grade. My grandmother was a para-educator at the High School that I would soon attend and was always placed into the agricultural classrooms and told me how much she enjoyed working with the students and teachers and that if I wanted to be a veterinarian, I should try the animal science courses that the agriculture department offered. As the middle school years quickly passed by, I drifted from the idea of FFA and agricultural education. Beginning with my freshman year of high school, I was reintroduced to the FFA program and agricultural education through my Veterinary Science class.

Senior Pictures: 2015

               As the years once again flew by, I found myself falling more in love with agricultural education each day. I became more involved with the FFA chapter and began an SAE raising market lambs. I ended my journey through 12 long years of schooling with graduation in June of 2015. As the summer months came and went, I found myself packing up my ENTIRE wardrobe, and ANYTHING that I could possibly fit into my parents’ car and headed 3 hours away from home to the Altoona branch of Penn State University. At that moment in time, I had a feeling that teaching was where my heart was, however, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to teach. All that was relevant at the time was that agriculture had my heart.

September 2017- My final SAE project with market lambs

                However, I’m not the typical agriculture student that grew up on a farm and was solely invested in agricultural education whether that be FFA or 4H. 4H was never in my reach, therefore, I am unfamiliar with that area and extension in general. Agriculture was a huge part of my life, but I also had “the best of both worlds” from the age of 8 years old until my junior year of college. Beginning at age 8, I fell in love with the sport of cheerleading and gave up everything to be able to improve my skills and eventually make the high school cheerleading team, become captain of the team my senior year, continue my cheerleading journey into college, and begin my coaching career.

April 2016- NCA Cheerleading Nationals in Daytona, FL

                If you are not the “typical agriculture kid” and enjoy having the “best of both worlds”, I encourage you to follow this journey with me. Any suggestions, comments, or stories regarding agriculture, cheerleading, or any combination of the two, will always be appreciated and accepted. Thank you for taking the time to learn a little bit about my journey and I hope that you continue to follow my journey.

Cheers, 

Kayla