Pennsylvania's Professional Agricultural Education Organization: PAAE

          On Wednesday April 8^th, 2015, I had the opportunity to travel with my cooperating teacher Mr. Anderson to the Eastern Region Pennsylvania Association of Agricultural Educators (PAAE) meeting at Garden Spot High School in Lancaster County. Supper began at 5:30 and the meeting began promptly at 6pm. Ms. Heather Pray, an agricultural educator at Garden Spot, conducted the meeting. Executive board officer reports were given by Mr. David Bittner of Midd-West and Mr. Mike Brammer, the executive secretary. Some of the highlights from these reports included news that new CIP code task lists for production and general programs have been created and closely align with the NOCTI exams. Meet and greets in Harrisburg occurred with state congressmen advocating for agricultural education and updates regarding the PAAE summer conference that will be held in Tyrone this July were given.

            Another highlight of the meeting included a vote as to whether PAAE would match the Center for Professional Personnel Development (CPPD) at Penn State to continue to fund the SAE/AET Technologist position for 2015-2016. Members voted to match the center’s budget of $5,000 for the upcoming year. One of the biggest issues of the night involved industry certification/credentials for program approval by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE). This news was conveyed to members at the meeting and is a new initiative under the new governor. Agricultural education programs are supposed to start offering industry certifications if this is something they do not do already. The certifications are supposed to align with students’ perspective career goals that they filled out on the PDE informational sheet at the beginning of the school year. Some of these certifications include Pork Quality Assurance, National Safe Tractor and Machinery Operation, and ServSafe. There were many concerns among members, as well as many unanswered questions. I had many of the same questions myself including how many certifications will programs be required to offer? How much will these certifications cost? Who will pay for the certifications?

            Cliff Day also gave reports from PDE, Mike Brammer gave reports from FFA, and Deb Seibert gave reports from NAAE, the National Association of Agricultural Educators. Members were reminded of new CDE requirements and eligibility as State Activities Week draws closer. One other large portion of the night included discussion about the development of a new Keystone Degree application through AET, the agricultural experience tracker. There were several concerns and questions as the transition from the traditional excel application to the AET application occurs. From my understanding, some of the requirements for the degree do not align in AET and there are some issues that will need to be worked out. Also, there was discussion as to whether the applications should be verified regionally, and how this should occur. I feel that if each region were to verify the applications, the process should be the same across the board.

            As the meeting wrapped up, two new regional Eastern Region Vice Presidents were elected: Heather Pray and Heather Anderson. The two newly elected officers will decide who is serving the one year term and the two year term at a later date. Mr. Anderson also talked about the field trip we attended earlier that day when we visited Covance and learned about biomedical research. Many members were interested in taking their students there for a tour. There was talk about holding the 2017 PAAE summer conference at W.B. Saul in Philadelphia as well.

            Overall, this was a very informative meeting and I took lots of notes! It was great to see so many agricultural teachers come together in one spot to discuss upcoming events, ideas, and concerns within the field. This meeting gave me a different perspective of the life of an ag teacher. It brought my attention to things going on throughout the state, things I will come into contact with if I acquire a position as a secondary agricultural educator. There were roughly 30 PAAE members at the meeting last night. Not every ag teacher in the region is a member; I personally think it is a great way to get involved and stay up to date within the profession. It was interesting to hear opinions and thoughts of ag teachers across the region. Whether they agree or disagree on the issues at hand, it is assuring to know that they are all there for the same reason: they care greatly about agricultural education and the students they teach!