University of Idaho Agricultural Education, Leadership, and Communications

The University of Idaho offers multiple opportunities for students to study and travel abroad throughout their college career, one of these opportunities is the Czech Republic trip. This travel abroad program took place from May 19 th through May 30 th of 2018. Four undergraduates and one faculty member from the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education attended the program; Bishal Thapa, Maggie Elliot, Annie Bass, Bethany Newtson and Dr. Jeremy Falk.  The activity log for the trip was very diverse and offered a unique look into the agriculture industry within the Czech Republic. Throughout the trip, students were able to reflect and make connections with fellow undergraduates from Kansas State University. The first day allowed for interactions with the USDA FSA office and representatives from the Czech Agrarian Chamber. Both committees offered an insight into US policy and Agriculture within that area. Students were also provided the opportunity to tour the la...

by Molly Sparrow The agricultural education program has had a great month, but one event has really stood out. Oct. 12-14 the department took five students, Dino Vinci, Molly Sparrow, Chelsey Sharp, Samantha Gunderson and Michael Cook on a three day adventure to visit agricultural education programs across the state of Oregon. The group was chaperoned by Associate Professor Jeremy Falk who helped to facilitate and select programs to visit. The group of six visited the Enterprise, Imbler and Hermiston ag education programs. Each of these programs provided unique opportunities and learning opportunities for these future ag educators.  Finally, to end the trip the group attended the Oregon Agricultural Teacher’s Association technical training. The students attended three different workshops that helped to prepare them to be educators such as agriscience prep, secondary literacy and using technology in the classroom. It was a great trip for everyone involved.

DR. JEREMY FALK SELECTED AS 2017 TEACH AG CHAMPION by  Ellen Thompson Project Director, National Teach Ag Campaign        CHICAGO – Each year, the National Teach Ag Campaign formally recognizes individuals and organizations who work tirelessly to address the national demand for agriculture teachers, as Teach Ag Champions. Teach Ag Champions are selected based upon their exceptional work in identifying the needs of their states and implementing effective strategies to recruit and retain high quality and diverse agriculture teachers. This year, Dr. Jeremy Falk, Associate Professor for Agriculture and Extension Education at the University of Idaho, was named one of the two 2017 National Teach Ag Champions recipients.       Dr. Jeremy Falk was selected as a Teach Ag Champion for his work at both the state and national levels to address the demand for agriculture teachers. He developed an agricult...

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...

     Thursday the CALS Department of Agricultural and Extension Education will lead sessions connected to the National Teach Ag Day planned online to cultivate enthusiasm among agricultural education students and teachers.      The celebration and hosted sessions will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the agricultural education classroom on campus, beginning with a session offering information about becoming an ag teacher.      A pizza party is planned from 11 to noon in coordination with a national webcast.      CALS ag ed professors Jeremy Falk and Kasee Smith will coordinate an online Teach Ag Symposium ( #TeachAgAfterParty)  hosted by the University of Idaho. It will feature sessions about using social media by Tennessee Tech University professor O.P. McCubbins, Google Tools by UI ag ed student Max Blitman and finding balance by professors Becki Lawver and Tyson Sorensen of Utah State University. ...

Thanks to all CFFA members for a great year! Photo Credit: Kim O'Neil      Collegiate FFA celebrated its year-end Spring Banquet on Tuesday, April 19 th  at the 1912 Center in Moscow. Members gathered to recognize the accomplishments of the club’s activities, which stretch from a variety of community service projects and fundraisers to professional development events, including the facilitation of FFA Career Development Events at both the local and state level, as well as touring high school agriculture programs around the Pacific Northwest.       Renee Hanson, Office Administrator for the department of Agricultural and Extension Education, was the recipient of the chapter’s Honorary Degree for her outstanding service to students and the club.      Other awards were given to members who provide over-the-top performance throughout the year. Recipients included Maggie Elliot and Erin Peek. Advisor, Dr. Jeremy Falk, s...

Photo Credit: Carol Ryan Dumas, Capital Press Agricultural Educators Embrace Future Teachers http://www.capitalpress.com/FFA/20160410/agricultural-educators-embrace-future-teachers#.Vwv7akQ34TQ.facebook      Check out this article, written by Carol Ryan Dumas of the Capital Press, upon visiting with AEE faculty and students during Idaho FFA's State Leadership Conference in Twin Falls last week!

2015 PTE New Teacher Workshop By: Dr. Jeremy Falk First-year Professional-Technical Education (PTE) teachers in Idaho attended a workshop on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 8-9 in the University of Idaho Water Center in Boise, Idaho. Twelve participants are beginning Agriculture & Natural Resources teachers. Teachers are either first-year teachers, or continuing teachers who are new to Idaho. Jeremy Falk from the department of Agricultural & Extension Education at University of Idaho was a facilitator for the workshop. Guest speakers for the Agriculture Teachers included Glen Orthel and Ben Meyer, who each helped identify strategies and resources for funding programs, managing an FFA chapter, and developing a plan of professional growth. Will Schumaker, West Ada School district Ag Teacher, also served as a panelist to decode classroom management. 

University of Idaho Heads to the Western Region Conference By: Dr. Jeremy Falk Faculty members from University of Idaho Agricultural and Extension Education recently attended the Western Region Conference for the American Association for Agricultural Education (AAAE). The conference was held in Corvallis, OR from Sept. 14-17 on the campus of Oregon State University. Dr. Falk joined presented his research about coaching behaviors of FFA advisors, and also presented a professional development workshop on recruiting efforts for the Teach Ag campaign. AAAE is a professional organization for the development of agricultural education, extension, leadership and communication. Membership is comprised of professors and graduate students and topics of presentation are sought to further the impact of agricultural education.

2015 University of Idaho Capstone Trip! By: Jemma Morrow, UI Teacher Candidate   First off, I want to say thank you to the University of Idaho Agricultural and Extension Education Department along with Dr. Falk for this amazing trip. There were so many firsts and new experiences for everyone who was on the trip. The trip started on Saturday, May 2. Michelle Ball, Dr. Falk, and I flew into Philadelphia. We spent the evening in Philly eating Philly Cheese steaks and exploring this historically important City. We saw the Liberty Bell and the grave of Benjamin Franklin. The city was very humbling. The next day we explored Washington DC. We started at Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Catholic Church in America. The sheer size of the building was amazing. Then we went to the National Mall. We saw the Air and Space Smithsonian Museum and the Natural History Smithsonian. We also saw the Washington, Lincoln, Vietnam War, Korean War, a...

North Idaho District FFA Career Development Events By: Dr. Jeremy Falk Skills in agriculture were recently demonstrated by FFA members when the North Idaho District (NID) held its Career Development Events with the support of faculty and students in Agricultural and Extension Education. More than 50 high school students participated in three events: Meats Evaluation CDE, Job Interview CDE, and the district officer selection process. Collegiate FFA members were active in running the day’s events and were cheerful guides for the high school students. “It is a fun way to be involved and see behind-the-scenes when we host CDEs on campus. I feel like I’ll be better prepared when I’m an agriculture teacher,” said Pamela Holman, graduate student in Agricultural and Extension Education. Paulette House, CALS Director of Student Recruitment, attended the NID CDEs to help provide FFA members with information about applying to the University of Idaho and to use their talents i...