The 6th ACES #studentteaching

Agricultural Cooperation Establishes Success. What a mouthful, but what a powerful event that impacts the lives of our high school students through agriculture leadership activities and learning.

This year was my 6^th year attending this conference, but it was different to me in a HUGE way. This year, instead of being a student in the blue jacket or being a facilitator for the workshops, I was an advisor of 43 amazing Walter Biddle Saul students.

The theme this year was “Past, Present, and Future. Telling Our Story.” What a great theme to educate our students about FFA, agriculture, and leadership.

We started off the week arriving at the Harrisburg Sheraton in a sea of Blue and Gold jackets with the hope of a great weekend. Even though it was Valentines weekend, my students were excited to be there and meet new people.

While my students were in the workshop, I had a great opportunity to learn about drones and GPS systems that we can use on our agriculture fields. Although it was a very interesting workshop, I was anxious to get back to my students and see how their days were going. As I snuck out, I took a couple of pictures of their experiences in the workshops which are down below!

As the day concluded and the students enjoyed an awesome dinner followed by a dance, I had to step up my advisor game and scope out the hallway after curfew. Luckily I was with my fellow student teachers as we scoped out the halls and let students know that curfew meant lights out. It was funny to reminisce about when I was a student and I was on the other side of the door. Folks, it was ironic that I was the enforcer and not the instigator!

The following day as ACES, we all concluded with a community service workshop and wrote letters to kids and students at Penn State for THON this weekend.

Overall, this trip was an incredible experience and I am so happy that I was able to spend time with my students outside of the classroom. I feel as a teacher we forget that our students have personalities outside of the classroom and they can be kinda fun to hang out with in a relaxed setting. Being a part of the transition from student to facilitator to student teacher/advisor has been a great way for me to see how I have grown at the same conference that I have always loved!

I look forward to many more journeys as an Ag teacher and I look forward to SLLC next month!

Thank you for reading!