University of Idaho Agricultural Education, Leadership, and Communications

By Liz Bumstead and Bret Kindall  Earlier this month, students from the University of Idaho spent a week at the  2017 Idaho FFA State Leadership Conference in Twin Falls, Idaho, where a staggering 1,600 FFA members flooded in from across the state.  Twenty nine UI students were enrolled in the Agriculture Education 498 course, three were student interns for the Idaho FFA Foundation, and one was present as a College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Ambassador. This is a unique and engaging opportunity offered to students at the University of Idaho. Students don’t have to be a part of a specific department to be involved, all majors are encouraged to help. For the students enrolled in the course, countless hours of preparation were conducted to coordinate various aspects of the conference. The responsibilities of these students ranged from backstage coordination to delegate business. These students met every week during the spring semester....

CALS student researches national FFA coaching styles Bret Kindall stepped away from seven generations of family beekeeping to discover his own path in life. At the University of Idaho, he found a passion for agricultural education through an undergraduate research project. Kindall, a sophomore in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) studying agricultural education and horticulture, wants to understand how FFA coaches can impact the success of students in competitions. His research over the past three months has included data from nearly 1,500 surveys of high school students and FFA coaches. He said his past experience winning a national FFA competition in floriculture provided valuable background for this research. Kindall says his project will influence his own coaching techniques when he becomes an FFA coach, but it also may impact how future agricultural education teachers are trained.  Agricultural and Extension Education assistant professor Jer...

 By Maggie Elliot University of Idaho’s department of Agricultural and Extension Education led an important role at the National FFA Convention and Expo. Faculty assisted with the Agriscience Fair, Prepared Public Speaking, and Parliamentary Procedure CDE, of which nine Collegiate FFA members helped to facilitate. Very few universities offer Agricultural Education students the opportunity to facilitate CDE’s on a national level. Members ran scorecards, took notes, recorded time, and graded minutes, but perhaps the most valuable aspect of working at the convention was examining the interactions between advisors and students in the competitive environment. “Experiential Learning is a cornerstone of what we expect of our teachers and by using this experience to develop our teachers, they become witness to its effectiveness.” Said Assistant Professor Dr. Jeremy Falk. “Our students conduct daily reflections as a group and their insights are above par, including: int...