University of Idaho Agricultural Education, Leadership, and Communications

  Erica Wood was a Spring 2020 graduate from the department with a degree in agricultural education. After graduation, she was hired at Cascade Junior Senior High School to start a new agricultural education program. Her hard work and dedication to teaching agriculture is inspiring. Starting a program in the midst of COVID-19 has made it a challenging experience for Wood, but nothing that she can’t handle with the motivation of her resilient and adaptable students. “Students, parents, staff, and the community as a whole have shown nothing but support and excitement for the new program, and so I am confident that in a few years we truly are going to have something special here in this little mountain town,” Wood says.  Wood has found that one of the most important things to being a good teacher is building relationships with the students. She has loved getting to know each of her students and forming connections with them. As Wood sees it, building mutual trust and respect is t...

Sarah Swenson, who grew up in Chewelah and Newport, Washington, is the new Administrative Coordinator for the Agricultural and Extension Education Department here at the University of Idaho. Swenson graduated from Willamette University with a degree in Music Therapy, and then she spent some time working with elderly people in assisted living communities. She moved to Moscow four years ago with her husband of 18 years, Matt, and their two teenagers. She has been a stay-at-home mom, and her husband works as a professor in Mechanical Engineering here at the University of Idaho. Swenson has shared that she is excited to work with the people in this department and says, “Everyone has been very welcoming and it’s a great atmosphere to work in. I look forward to meeting more students.” We are also very excited to have her with us in the department! When asked about her background in agriculture, Swenson tells that she grew up in small towns which allowed her to see agriculture first-hand arou...