What do I want in a cooperating center?

 Hi everyone! This semester has been crazy busy, but also very exciting! As I mentioned in my last blog post, I have many opportunities that I will be able to participate in throughout the semester, one of these activities includes the opportunity to chose a cooperating center for my student teaching experience in the spring of 2024. Choosing a cooperating center includes visiting agriculture programs throughout the state of Pennsylvania and ranking the three programs that I think would be the best fit for me. While I am going through this process and trying to decide which programs are a good fit, it is important to decide what characteristics I am looking for in a cooperating center. I will be using this blog post to document the traits and characteristics that I will be looking for during my search for a cooperating center!

So, what am I looking for? 

1) Strong Three Circle Model

At the heart of agricultural education lays the three circle model. The three circle model essentially outlines that agricultural education should be delivered through three interconnected components: classroom or laboratory instruction, experiential learning (through SAE), and leadership (through FFA). When I am looking for a cooperating center, I am looking for a program that closely follows the three circle model so that, upon completion of my student teaching experience, I will have a better idea of how to incorporate the three circle model into my future program. 

The three circle model of agricultural education.

2) Multi-Teacher Program

Growing up, I attended Somerset Area High School, where I was enrolled in an agriculture program with one teacher. I learned a lot in this single teacher program, however, I also recognize that there are many agricultural programs within Pennsylvania that have two or more teachers. Being that I only have one chance to student teach, I think it would be most beneficial for me to teach at a program that is different from what I already know. Student teaching at a multi-teacher program would also allow me to gain knowledge from multiple experienced agriculture teachers who can offer more cumulative years of experience that most single teacher programs. 

3) Variety of Courses

When looking for a cooperating center, I am looking for a program that offers a wide variety of courses for their students. In my high school agriculture program, I was enrolled in courses titled Ag 1, Ag 2, Ag 3, and Ag 4. Throughout the school year, these courses covered a variety of content areas (i.e. animal science, plant science, ag mechanics) all within one class. Throughout my search for a cooperating center, I would like to find a program that offers courses that are designed to focus on one content area throughout the entire course. An example of this would be courses entitled "Plant Science",  "Animal Science", or "Ag Mechanics".  I think that having courses that are focused on specific content areas would be a great way for me to experience a program that is different from what I experience in my high school. I would also like a program that offers a wide variety of courses to students so that I am not teaching the same content all day and so that I can use my time student teaching to gain experience teaching a variety of content areas to students. 

4) High Community Involvement

I would like to teach at a cooperating center that has a high level of involvement within their community. It is imperative for agriculture programs to be involved in their communities, but also for communities to have the desire to support local agriculture programs. Having connections and being involved within the community can create relationships with individuals and business that can benefit the agriculture program. This is often see through donations or connections to assist students in finding job placements.

Involvement within the community is also a great way to teach students the importance of active members of their community. It can give students a sense of humility, but also allow them the opportunity to take pride in doing something that helps others. 

As I continue my search for a cooperating center, I will be keeping these key aspects in mind and looking for programs that can incorporate all, or most, of these. There are many great agriculture programs in Pennsylvania, and I am confident that I will end up at one that fits me well and will serve as a great cooperating center. 

Thanks for checking in and be sure to come back soon for more updates!

Mckenzie