Happy TAMBAween! #Sweet2Senegal

Quote of the Day

The Tambacounda Region

“When in doubt pedal it out”

THE STORY

I saw a real live, out of a cage, meter long African Python.

HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?!

I pedaled it out…

NO BUT REALLY….

Okay so here is the thing… I got my NEW SITE. For the next two years I will be living in the far away eastern region of Tambacounda! It is the hottest region with lots of wild animals, has largest regional house, and of course in my biased opinion, the best village in all of Senegal.

I will be living in the medium size town of Botou with over 1,000 villagers that live 10K outside of the city of Tambacounda. There is a primary school with a newly built garden, a health post that wants to work on building a new garden, running water, a couple of tailors, and a water tower that I have full access to climb as much as I want! Of course in this village is my small hut that has a queen size bed, a small table, and a nice backyard with a brand new toilet that I can call my own!

After getting my amazing site! 

And are you ready for this? I got a new name! Drum roll please….

Tiguida Fofana.

It is one heck of a name that sounds like Tachito's, so I am quite happy with it!

My host family is also a group of wonderful people that made sure during my visit there to check the site out that I was comfortable and ate as much as I could while I was there. They even harvested a chicken for my visit!

Anyhoo, back to the snake.

I have an amazing site partner that I have been friends with since we both arrived in Senegal. The only catch is that to visit each other there is a bush path that cuts through fields to get to the towns. As we were pedaling along, we decided to take a break and eat some breakfast before reaching the next town. As I was enjoying a nice chocolate spread on my baguette, we all turn to see this meter long snake come out of the bush and slither past us. 

Breakfast was over.

SO WHAT IS TAMBAWEEN?

In every region that Peace Corps Volunteers are serving there is a regional house that has wifi, western toilets, electricity, and a place where volunteers can come and just relax. Since it was the first time visiting, the volunteers threw us a Halloween party so that our first holiday away from home was not that daunting. My friends, I ate all the Macaroni and Cheese that was served in front of me! 

The Tambacounda region also is a transit house for other regions that are farther away as they try to make their way back to Thies they can relax and take a break at our house. On the roof of the house holds about 15 outside beds that we can call use to sleep under the stars! 

Let me just say, I love this house, I love my hut, and I love my new name.

SO WHATS NEXT?

Since I am finally caught up with my blogs, we are now getting ready to go to our final CBT homestay to prepare for our install. I will be preparing to do a presentation in Bambara to the Peace Corps staff about why I am ready to serve as a volunteer and taking my final for my Agriculture Technical skills.

Send good vibes this girls way!

In conclusion,

 Foo nefe and Heera Doron. 

Heera Doron in Karamohobugu #Sweet2Senegal

The Bambara Squad! 

Quote of the Day

“If you met my host family, you would understand.”

THE STORY

My new name is Makine Sangrehe.

WAIT, WHAT?

It has been awhile since my last blog post so let me catch you up…

After being at the Thies (pronounced like “Chess” the game!) Training Center for a couple of weeks, we were finally able to go to our CBT (Community Based Training) sites for cultural integration.

What did we need to do before leaving?

 Get our new language! 
- Friends and Family I am learning the language of Bambara! Although the most popular language and the only language that people understand it is in the country of Senegal is Wolof, I was selected with two other volunteers to speak the minority language that is spoken all throughout West Africa. It sounds like Japanese and Mexican fusion in my opinion!

Our beautiful sandy garden

-         I learned some new agricultural techniques that are used in Senegal that I will be extending throughout my service such as:

o   Double Digging

o   Composting

o   Using onion bags to sift through manure…

o   SO much more!

-         Learned about cultural dynamics in Senegal and how the family works through my LCF (Language and Cross Cultural Facilitator) who also will be with us for the entire CBT stay

-         Learned all the acronyms that go along with Peace Corps and Washington D.C.’s main headquarters.

After all that, they let us go to our site to meet our new family.

THE MEET AND GREET

As soon as we arrived to the small Bambara village of Karamohobugu, I was immediately out of my comfort zone as tons of kids and adults came rushing towards us to greet us. My family was in their compound and immediately helped me with all of my stuff and showed me to my room which consisted of four walls, one floor, and one bed, yet I felt right at home!

After unpacking all of my things, I rejoined my family outside and that is when I got my new name of Makine (mah-Kine-A). I was named after my host mother and the adorable baby. My family is small and consists of the main host mother and father, their son, his two wives, and then their 3 children. We have one room to use the toilet which is a Turkish style bathroom…. A hole in a room and then separate room that we take our bucket showers in. Let me tell you folks, bucket showers are the new thing. I love them.

Hair braiding with my Fam Jam + all the children
on the block

During the CBT stay, we have to attend language classes every day for four hours on a mat under a tree. It is typically surrounded by kids who can’t afford to go to school and also we are surrounded by a market where the wives of the compounds come to shop for lunch and dinner. A pretty distracting environment for me but I have learned so much so far!

At the end of the lessons, working in the garden, and taking bucket showers two times a day, I usually end up the night sitting under the stars with my host mom selling peanuts and showing her different constellations in my broken Bambara language.

THERE IS SOME MANGO ON YOUR FACE

Oh yeah, my town has a road market that sells mangos the size of my face. Eating is well… an experience.

THAT’S A WRAP

After the two stays that I have had with the family, I have loved every second of it. I have botched up so many words, made my host family laugh at me not with me, and have had a village come watch me do my laundry because they didn’t think I could do it.

I have one more stay with the Sangrehe’s but first, I get to see my permanent site! There is a tradition in the Peace Corps in Senegal where to introduce your site you have to be blindfolded, then you walk to the site on this map we have that covers our basketball court. Surprises are to come!

P.S.

Forgot to mention what Heera Doron actually means…. “Peace Only” my friends!

The Day That I Stopped Trusting Scales #Sweet2Senegal

Quote of the Day

“Airplane travel is nature’s way of making you look like your passport photo”

THE STORY

Don’t trust your scales at home.

BACK UP

Today I arrived in Senegal.

Yes you read that right, this girl is on another continent so watch out!

After officially telling the Peace Corps that I would love to be one of 70 people to go to Senegal to be a volunteer, I got the job title of Sustainable Agriculture Specialist. After packing all of my items into two very large and overweight bags, we headed off to Washington D.C for a direct flight to Senegal. As we arrived at the airport, I started to get nervous. We were the first guests to be helped at South African Airlines to not so happy airline members. So here I am. Strolling up with what I knew was potentially two pounds overweight…or five pounds…. I was in denial and in my defense thought my home scale was accurate when it said it just weighed over five pounds.

I had packed a bag so heavy that the airplane members working the booth said that my luggage would have to be stored in cargo where the oversize CARGO goes which would cost a whopping $200 dollars.

After hearing to total of what it potentially would cost me, I started to scramble. I started putting all of my food in my ukulele case, my clothes in my carry on, and anything that would be able to make it through security on my back or in my friends bags that were there waiting for me. That is when the stressful emotions came out. I begged the airline attendants to wave the fee because I was a volunteer. Surprise though, they had no idea what Peace Corps even was. After I (in the most dramatic I have ever done) explained to them about the commitment of serving in a different country for two years and leaving my family behind they finally understood what it was. And guess what… They WAIVED THE FEE.

THE ARRIVAL

You know those people who look great getting off planes? The ones that wear the nice clothes and do their makeup before landing? I am not one of them. As we arrived in Dakar and got off the plane we walked across the tarmac to a bus that would take us to our luggage. As we checked in with Peace Corps, we loaded up on huge buses that would take us to the training center. And then…. The bus broke down. My theory? My bags literally broke the bus because they were so heavy.

So yes friends and family, I pushed a bus to help get it moving in Senegal on my first day, after the airplane ride, after crying and being dramatic in D.C., and in a skirt that covered my knees.

ANYTHING ELSE?

I am happy to be here. I have made some great friends and I have survived the heat so far. Looking forward to more sun,  more fun, and getting to know this beautiful country.

Next week starts training, language learning, and then some integration through living at a host families house for a couple of weeks! 

Get ready for this crazy ride!

What are you going to miss?

Someone asked me, "What are you going to miss most about Philadelphia when you leave?" A tough but important question. Although I have traveled around a huge city, figured out its transportation system, met and networked with several individuals, fought for the starting of Community Schools in lower income neighborhoods, and I have grown personally and professionally there is one thing I am going to miss. The thing I am going to miss the most about Philadelphia is the...Food. 

A wise professor once said, “Food, in the end, in our own tradition, is something Holy... It’s about sharing. It’s about honesty. It’s about identity.” 

This quote couldn’t be more true. This summer I have jumped into a new experience with new individuals and new perspectives. I have eaten my way around the city with different people and friends. I have experienced the hustle in Reading Terminal trying new food until I couldn’t eat any longer. I have cooked food outside at the Schuylkill Center with teenagers across the city in the Teens4Good program who work all summer planting and harvesting an urban garden. I have literally picked food from a dumpster with my fellow interns to realize how wasteful we are as a society and turn that food into meals for my roommate and I. I have attended a #right2work dinner series at South Philly Barbacoa to spread awareness about workers in the food industry who are the backbones of many kitchens across the Philadelphia area. I especially enjoyed meals in the neighborhood park getting to know my fellow interns by sharing stories and ideas over a lunch break when we are all together.

Sharing. Honesty. Identity.

It is bringing together the of sharing stories, being honest in who we are, and identifying ourselves and our personalities through the enjoyment and surrounding of food and people.

Food. 

That is what I am going to miss.

Couldn't learn it unless I was HERE #reflection

This Penn State Community Engagement Office in Philadelphia provides unique opportunity to learn about different outlooks and a culture that I couldn’t learn anywhere else. Although the Penn State University Park prepares you the best of their ability for the outside world and prepares you to expand your brain to critically think, they could not have prepared me for this internship.

In Philadelphia, there are different boroughs and neighborhoods that have unique personalities. For example, in West Philly you will have your hipster, trendy individuals that thrive on coffee and would be lost without it or for comparison, you travel Center City where the “suit culture” is alive and well or you go down to South Philly where there is an activist on every corner standing in front of beautiful art work. This city creates a unique melting plot of individuals that come together to form this city of Philadelphia. Although all of them are different, when there is an issue or a call for change into action, these cut out boroughs are not afraid to come together to become agents of change. But what is the change that is happening right now? Solving the problem of the inequities of the public education system in lower income neighborhoods in Philadelphia through the Community Schools Initiative.

The Community Schools Initiative is designed to open a dialogue to stakeholders who are overlooked in a public conversation, implement an Ambassador Program to build leadership among parents, teachers, and community members, bridge a conversation between community members and the Mayor’s Office, and develop public awareness about Community Schools. A lot of awesome work for communities who have been overlooked and not heard from at all when it regards their communities.

Conversations and being comfortable talking to diverse populations about the hard topics is something that I never thought I would do. After realizing that these conversations needed to happen and communities depended on talking about these issues to spread the awareness was crucial to change to be implemented. These are the things that couldn’t learn anywhere else. I couldn’t learn how to identify populations in one city, feel comfortable talking about the inequities that are happening to this day, and I couldn’t create a story about the public education system in Philadelphia without being here to experience it myself. 

The {People} of the Community Schools Taskforce

There is a problem in the Philadelphia area around education. Not only are the teachers and students suffering because of the strained budgets and lack of support from the government, the parents and communities are suffering because they have lost their RIGHT to a voice in what they believe is good for their neighborhoods. With help from the Community Schools Taskforce, they are breathing new life into communities and giving overlooked neighborhoods a chance to start fresh with community schools.

The Community Schools Taskforce in Philadelphia is group of individuals representing different organizations coming together to tackle the issue of helping solve the inequities of the education system through Community Schools. Not only do they take time out of their days to meet and talk about these problems, they are coming together to advocate of educational justice and community schools in Philadelphia to address the problems of systemic poverty and economic inequities in schools to empower parents, students, and educators.

Who are some of these people that are making such a difference in these areas?

 Let me introduce you to three amazing individuals that are impacting this process and bringing their unique stories to the table. 

*Side Note* 

Due to these interviews being conducted around the city, there is some background noise in the videos! I apologize for the inconvenience!

Ron Whitehorne

Retired Teacher. Current Activist. 

Ron has been in the Philadelphia area since the 70s. Starting his career as a substitute teacher while getting his Masters, he has been an influential person in the creation of the Community Schools Taskforce by assisting in laying the groundwork for the Taskforce and the role that it plays. In the video below check out who Ron is and his thoughts on where this taskforce is heading.   Meet Ron!

Kendra Brooks 

Active Parent. Parents United Employee. 

Kendra is an active parent working for Parents United to help the unheard voices of parents share their ideas and thoughts to the administration in their schools. Kendra has developed the idea of transformative parent engagement in local neighborhood schools. In the video below, Kendra tells us a little bit about herself and why she believes that parent engagement in important in communities. Meet Kendra! 

Amber Felton

Graduate from CAPA High School in Philadelphia. Media Mobilizing Project Employee. 

Amber is a perfect person that is a part of this Taskforce. Starting when she attended CAPA High School as a student, she started the Philadelphia Student Union in her school that helped the students share their ideas and voices in regards to what happens at the school. As stated in her interview, the slogan of Media Mobilizing Project is "Movements begin with the telling of untold stories." Amber has known first hand that movements start with listening to communities and helping them out by what they want and need. Meet Amber! 

These individuals that are a part of this Taskforce bring unique stories and perspectives to the table that help form what is happening with this Community Schools Initiative in Philadelphia. It is through these people, the trust that they have built in their own communities, and their courage to implement this change, that change is finally happening. 

Stay tuned for more interviews and updates about the Community Schools Taskforce. 

Community Schools is my Jawn. #summerintern

After doing my 15-week student teaching internship at Walter Biddle Saul High School in Philadelphia, I was not ready to leave this beautiful city. Since I had an eye opening experience learning about the Philadelphia education system, I decided to intern with the Penn State Center in Philadelphia to work with the Community Schools Task Force to help start the conversation of helping schools back into underfunded neighborhoods in lower income areas.

Wait, what is a community school again?

A community school involves the community surrounding it to come together to create a democratic environment for everyone that chooses to get involved. This strategy includes several needed resources that give not only the physical paper and pens to the students, but answers the needs of the school through outlets of counseling, nursing, after school programs for students and even adults, to create a community hub for that area.

So where does that leave me and this internship?

After discussing with my boss about the impact that could potentially happen with me in Philadelphia and talking with the partners involved, the best idea was to jump on in! Right?

Being assigned to catch up on the years of struggle in one city and the impact that it has had in the education reform has been challenging. Countless hours of research, learning that there sometimes isn’t black and white when it comes to these issues, and learning that I can play a role in this system has been an incredible experience so far!

Some of my roles and responsibilities include:

- Learning a world view and approach that takes in to account power and privilege and systematic inequalities in public education

- Becoming familiar with the perspectives of stakeholders in the Philadelphia Community Schools Strategy

- Developing the initial public face for Penn State's Community School approach through the means of multimedia (i.e. blogging and video/audio)

- Participating in collaborative reflection and curriculum design for the Community Schools Ambassador program

Overall, becoming comfortable in the roles that I am given to communities that I am speaking to has been an amazing time learning about myself and others.

Keep your eye out for posts that will not only include my time here in Philadelphia, but a background and story about what is going on with the education system that is happening in our own backyard.  

A Blessed {Teach} on the Block! #15weeks

When I came home this past weekend, my sister asked me a question for her homework: “If you were to describe in one word how you feel right now, what would it be?” Blessed.

For the past 15 weeks I have been blessed to be a student teacher at a great school called Walter Biddle High School in Philadelphia. For 15 weeks I have gotten to know over 50 students in my classes, several student leaders, amazing agriculture and non-agriculture teachers, all the while working as a Penn State student teacher with a graduation date that is quickly approaching whether I want it to or not.

I am blessed because for the past 15 weeks:

-          I have taught classes in Enviornmental Science and Small Animal Science

-         Attended several field trips to aid in my classes

-         Handled over 5 different rodents, rabbits and dogs

-         Planted over 5,000 plants at a local CSA

All while teaching full time, coaching a Cross Country team, and organizing a Scrapbook club for the FFA chapter.

I am blessed because I have been able to teach some the most unique and special individuals I have ever met and help make a difference in each of their lives whether I knew it or not. Although this chapter of my life is coming to a close, I am excited for the new doors that are opening for me. After graduation I will be leaving to go to Senegal to serve as a Peace Corps Sustainable Agriculture Agent. Scary thought to be leaving the country and my kiddos behind. However, as much as an impact people say that I did at Saul, Saul changed me as well. I learned from them that:

-         I can make a difference no matter how tired the job makes me. My job is important no matter how much I want to binge watch Netflix, get frustrated because I feel defeated, or because I didn’t get enough sleep the night before because I was worried about them. I can make a difference because of them.

-         Agriculture is great way to connect people. The CSA (Community Supported Agriculture Program) at Saul brought together farmers and a school to guide them through this process of Farm to Fork.

-         Diversity of student demographics is important to know. Although the job can be “Drawn” (lame/tiring/crazy/Philly Talk), getting to know my student made for a better lesson that they would understand and be able to relate too. Gucci?

-         Being transparent with my students and parents will always be important no matter if I am a teacher or not. I need to let people know who I am and what I am doing for support in a program.

My 15 weeks at Saul High School has made me grow as an individual, a teacher, and a friend. I realize now that I choose the right job and I will continue to have a passion for agriculture education no matter if I am in the United States or Senegal. It has been surreal that this student teaching experience is over, however my life is entering into an important time for me to bring my agriculture education knowledge to a global level.

I am blessed because I have gotten to know great people at Walter Biddle Saul High School and grow to be the teacher I am today.

I am blessed because Penn State has allowed me the opportunity to have life skills and agriculture education knowledge for me to share with Senegal and the world.

Cheers to this experience and many more that are to come. Until my next Oh So Sweet Mission, thank you for reading!

Evaluations and Animals...Action Based Research

Research is something that I have come to love ever since I did it this past summer. I like looking at situations and finding solutions or looking at a problem from a different perspective. Penn State Ag Ed challenged me to look at something that Walter Biddle Saul does, observe it, and make it better.

Side Note: I am not doing this project because I am a “master teacher,” quite honestly I am far from it. However, coming to this school and looking at a class from a different perspective of what they currently do is nice to offer suggestions to make it even better!

Teaching alongside my cooperating teacher, Ms. Turrentine, we decided that we wanted to look at areas of improvement of the Animal Science department when teaching of handling and restraining animals. This directly worked with the SLO that Ms. Turrentine submitted for the beginning of the year which was nice to work with what directly she wanted to improve. Let’s break down what the SLO/Action based research looked like:

1.       Who: The SLO worked with the 10^th graders enrolled in Small Animal Science. The class is a 110-minute class that met every day! (Lots of time to work on this project)

2.       How: The students will be compared from last semester to this semester in the handling and restraining of small animals. We will analyze a project that was completed by the spring students and not the fall students and see how they compare.

3.       Expectations: The students that took the spring class will be more comfortable handling and restraining animals than the fall students.

RESULTS: As the project completed, the data was in and I was actually shocked. The students were driven by finding out the answers on their own and figuring out their own problems. 100% of the students in the spring semester that I taught were 100% comfortable handling and restraining animals compared to the fall semester. Super cool research and super cool data that showed me that the SLO was working.

Overall, this project changed my perspective about SLO’s and Action Based Research. I didn’t believe that this project would be beneficial, but seeing it work and actually helping out my students see things from a different perspective was great watching the light bulb go off! I look forward to more SLO’s and Action Based Research in the future!

Thanks for reading Ag Ed Fam!

From Student to future Scientist! #SAE2

I believe that a good agriculture teacher should embrace science in every lesson that they decide to teach no matter where they are. Regardless if they believe it or not, science and agriculture go hand in hand. Integrating your classroom instruction with an SAE project that blends science and agriculture is even better! A student that is doing that is an 11^th grade Food Science major by the name of Earl Gocking. Earl has initiated a research SAE project after he completed his internship at the USDA last summer and his project is MOO-tastic!

Although Earl is not one for many words, it was nice getting to know him more and walking around with him at the dairy barn to hear about his project. The research that he is doing is to determine if the feed that we feed out dairy cattle affects the production of casein in milk in different breeds.... PAUSE! This student is an 11^th grade student who is working hand and hand with professors from Temple and workers from the USDA to do this project (insert Teach Ag Awesomeness!)

Before I met with Earl to go over this project, I made sure that I got the full story from the teachers first about how they were helping him with it. The teachers make each student accountable if they are doing research to be fully aware and schedule their interactions to record data for their project. Basically like a real research job. After talking with the teachers about how they worked with Earl, I then went to get his perspective on his project. He mentioned to me that some interesting things he has learned was how to do self-research and making educational hypotheses along with procedures to complete this project. Earl is also not alone in this research. Alongside Earl is Dr. Diane VanHekken from the USDA, Ms. Tiffany Turrentine, Mr. Greg Smith, and the farmers at the high school to help in milking the cows! A great supportive team for a great student!

After Earl’s research concludes, he wants to present his research at a science fair and hopefully attend Cornell University to major in Food Science (trust me, I did the Penn State speech and he didn’t budge!)

Earl is off to great things in the future. By him recording his data in his AET, working with the teachers at Saul and workers at the USDA, and a future in agriculture, Earl will be set for any life challenge that comes his way!

If you would like to reach out to Earl, please contact jmnaugle@philasd.org for more information or advice that you can give for his project!

#Nervous {Teach} on the Block! #interview #crunchtime

After participating in the second student teaching seminar, I was able to gain a lot of practice and develop a new set of skills to directly apply to this assignment. Interviewing with a school administrator. I was fortunate enough to take time out of our fearless leader’s day. Not only does she serve as our school principal, educator, and “ag”vocate, she runs our school every day and her name is Ms. Conaway.

Every school has a system set in place to make sure it runs efficiently. To make sure that this process continues, school administrators plan ahead to make sure that they are hiring great teachers through the interview process. As I met with Ms. Conaway, she taught me a lot about the do’s and don’ts of an interview as we talked through it together.

Beginning with the interview, right out of the gate she stared with, “Tell me about yourself and why you want to come to teach at Saul High School.” Woah. As easy as a question as this is, it requires a lot of thinking and details to make sure that the answer is adequate for a response. As the interview continued there were questions about my “area of expertise”, what are my classroom management and teaching philosophies, and what were some great and not so great lessons that I have done so far. Questions again that were easy, but loaded enough that you need to make sure to show off who you are and what you are capable of bringing to the table in the future at the school.

As our interview concluded and wrapped up, she made it a point to have clear questions that show that you are interested about the school and the staff that you will be working with in the future. She stated, “Ask questions that make the interviewing committee show off the school and what they have to offer. Ask about what attracted them to an inner city school, opportunities that will be available for growth and improvement at the school, and if you are at a CTE school ask how academic and CTE mix together as a full functioning program.” VERY interesting and VERY helpful!

In the end she had so last bits of advice for me:

-          Be Yourself

-          Show off what you have done in the past

-          Tell a storyline of how you got to where you are today

-          Talk about student teaching

Great opportunities for me to take this advice and grow on it in the future as well as share out with my peers! I am glad that I had this opportunity to show who I was and get to know my administration a little better before leaving Saul! I can’t wait to take this advice in the future to use to my advantage!

Community Based Unit of Instruction #AgLearning

I knew that I always wanted to be a teacher because I enjoy seeing the light bulb moment go off for every student that is in my classroom. For my Community Based Unit of Instruction, we were challenged with creating a lesson plan that would involve the community in a unit that we were teaching in the classroom. What better way to do that than to teach 4^th and 5^th graders about Animal Safety and Handling at Saul High School with my 10^th grade Animal Science students!

For the introduction period when the new 10^th graders arrive in Small Animal Science, there is a pressure to understand how to properly handle an animal and the procedures that go with it. After introducing each of the animals to all the students (Gerbils, Guinea Pigs, Rabbits, Hamsters, Rats, Mice, and Dogs), they had to meet with me and show me all of the procedures for handling and taking care of the animals by themselves. This was no easy task for these students because along with proving to me that they understood it, they had to write a “How To” book and complete it for points in my class.

After I knew that they were all pro’s with handling and understanding all of the steps, a unique opportunity presented itself where a Philadelphia school called Jenks Elementary was looking at working with the Environmental Science students about planting and taking a look at our CSA. After talking with all of the teachers involved with the process, I was able to get the students in the morning and then they could do the environmental portion in the afternoon!

So what did we do you may be thinking? As the students started to pile in, I separated my students into the different rooms of the Animal Science building for the elementary students to see. With one day of all 4^th graders and then the next day with all 5^th graders, my students became experts on what we were doing this day and did it without a problem or hesitation!

Overall, this day was awesome. I wandered around and watched my students teach younger ones about animal handling and the procedures that they do every Tuesday and Thursday when they come to the lab during class time. It was even funny to hear that they were using the same words that I used to teach them and they were all very patient. My work was completed when teaching these students about these procedures and I am excited to see what they remember when they are seniors in Ms. Turrentine's classroom in the future! 

Feelin’ Pretty Super {Teach} on the Block! #weeklyblog #psuaged16

This week was the second to last week here at Walter Biddle Saul High School (insert crying emoji here). Although my emotions certainly caught up with me realizing that this is it, I am excited that I have one more week left at Saul and I am going to make it count!

Usually I give you the Pros and Cons of me week on this blog, but this week I wanted to shake it up and do a picture blog about what happened this week followed by notes about what was happening in the pictures.

Beginning with Saturday, Saul hosted some fantastic National FFA 360 conference facilitators to lead Saul students and Midd West students about “Lasting Impressions.” Due to the snow that some schools faced, we had a small turn out BUT the facilitators enjoyed actually talking to the students one on one and getting to know them! Why the capes you may ask? Just because there weren’t a lot of students does not mean we couldn’t play a prank on the facilitators! 

BEFORE we planted some tomatoes this is what the green house looked like! 

The "crew" that did an awesome job planting and working together as a team! 

BEFORE we planted all the basil, the students had to line up
the rows to make it even for all of the plants to fit 

Right before we plant, we drop all of the basil to make it even
by alternating the plants for infinite growth and space for
each bed. 

Oh yeah the hospital... This girl can not walk and talk at the same time.
Me falling on concrete = a swollen knee, an MRI, crutches, and a smile! 

As we continue on with the week, planting, planting, and more planting had to be done to prepare or greenhouses at Saul for some tomatoes and basil to sell this summer. My students and I all worked together to plant all of this and even some lettuce in the field to help our CSA and tie together our Root and Germination units that we were working on in class! OH and there was a hospital run between all of this happening. Talk about super busy. 

FFA week breakfast and super power capes for all of the teachers!
Not pictured: Bacon and Pancakes (SO GOOD!)

Ms. T and I dressed up as twins for "Twin Day" at Saul

Start of the Color War! 

As the week continues, we say HELLO its FFA week! Wow, what a super cool experience it is to be apart of a school with over 500 FFA members! This week was filled with awesome moments like: Color Wars, Teacher Appreciation Breakfast, Capes for all of the teachers, and so many more fun activities! As a future FFA adviser and agriculture teacher, I was able to gather some awesome ideas from the students and from this awesome week! 

Overall Thoughts for the Week: 

This week was filled with its ups  and downs and I am so happy to be a part of a school that celebrates agriculture in a unique way. Not only did I have to balance teaching, planting, FFA Week help, and "run" around on crutches all week, I got to feel what an actual agriculture teacher is like with a full schedule. Next week, will be the same except I will be saying "good-bye" to some students who have made an amazing impact on me as a teacher and as a person. I cannot wait for the activities and events that are going on next week INCLUDING a special secret Pancake Breakfast that I am hosting for my students as a treat! 

Stay tuned for next week Ag Ed Fam!