Eastern Region PAAE Meeting

On Tuesday I went to the Eastern Region PAAE Meeting held at Oley Valley High School with the Manor Ag Ed Department. The room was full of Ag Ed family members when we got there, and we all had dinner together before the meeting. The meeting was productive and there was meaningful discussion throughout. We discussed FFA and PAAE events, the new Ag Ed commission, and professional development opportunities offered through the Center for Professional Personnel Development at PSU. In this blog post, I'm not going to focus on the content of the meeting, but rather my reflection on the importance of being involved in PAAE.

First, the fact that all of these teachers willingly give up their evenings to go to meetings such as this just shows how invested agricultural educators are in being the best teachers they can be. When you sit back and really think about it, it is also amazing to think about the network that ag ed teachers have with each other. Think about all of the knowledge and experience that was in that one high school room at Oley Valley where we had the meeting, as well as the other regional meetings across the state. That is why being involved in PAAE is important as an agricultural educator. It is our duty to not only be lifelong learners, but to mentor other ag teachers, too. Being involved in PAAE helps ensure you are up to date with what is going on ag ed and the agriculture industry, it promotes communication between ag teachers and vital partners, and opens up doors for professional development opportunities. Being involved in PAAE is also a chance for ag teachers to give back and serve a profession that has given them so much. I'm looking forward to continuing my #TeachAg journey and becoming more involved in PAAE.

Angie, Ally, and I catching up at the PAAE meeting