The Eastern Region PAAE Meeting!!

The lab at Conrad Weiser.

 This past week, I had the pleasure of attending the Eastern Region PAAE Regional Meeting held at Conrad Weiser High School. I was super happy to see some familiar faces when I went from outside of Penn Manor and was able to catch up with various Ag teachers from the Eastern region and my high school FFA advisor Sarah Stauffer. Soon after we arrived, we walked around the facilities at the school.

The front of the CW meeting room.

I was very impressed by the agricultural facilities at the school. There was a very large lab with a biotech room in the back. This lab was fully equipped with every piece of lab equipment that you could think of. I was astounded. It was also super neat to see the plants that were growing in test tubes. I am guessing they were growing and experimenting with tissue culture propagation. There was also a room with 2 pigs. the room opened out into a small grassy, fenced in area that the pigs could go outside in. There was also a classroom and small side of a greenhouse that was more equipped for research than for plant production.

In the classroom, all of the Ag teachers in the eastern region ate before the meeting. The meal consisted of Mexican food with chips, tortillas, etc. It was served buffet style. As everyone got their food, we settled at the tables and talked about teaching and our students. I really enjoyed getting to talk to Krista and Grace at the meeting since they both attended as well.

Krista Mathias with the 2 Conrad Weiser pigs.

During the meeting, there were several topics discussed. The first order of business were several reports from the PAAE officers. The treasurers report received much discussion and debate as the new budget was discussed a lot. The lack of members in the organization was also discussed at this time. Following the officer reports, Dr. Ewing had prepared a document about Penn States work in recruiting and training Ag teachers, so that was presented. There was a bit of discussion on the lack of college students choosing Ag Ed as their major and wanting to be Ag teachers.

Much of the discussion for the rest of them meeting surrounded possible changes in the proficiency award application and awarding process. Special attention was given to the changes surrounding the alumni FFA jacket scholarship program. SLLC, ACES, and and changes for State convention for this upcoming year were discussed as well. Overall, I had a really fun time getting to see all of the Ag teachers in the eastern region, and enjoyed listening to the discussion surrounding all of the different topics in the meeting. It is evident to me that every single one of these teachers cares about heir job and cares about the opportunities and resources that are available to their programs and their students.