Attending the ACES Conference

 This semester, I've had a lot of great opportunities to watch students grow as leaders. One of these opportunities has included the chance to travel to the Agriculture Cooperations Establishes Success (ACES) conference in Harrisburg. This is an overnight conference where students attend professional development workshops and have the opportunity to interact with other FFA members from across the state of Pennsylvania. 

As a former FFA member, I was able to attend ACES four times throughout my high school career, however, this was my first opportunity to be on the advisor side of things for this experience. If I am being completely honest, I really had no idea what my FFA advisor did while I was in my professional development workshops. (I kinda assumed that he went shopping or something.) However, I've realized that ACES is an opportunity for teachers to learn and grow just as much as it is for the students. While our students were in their workshops, we were also able to attend a professional development workshop on the Agricultural Experience Tracker and completing degree applications. During this workshop, I was able to learn tips and best practices for completing degree applications which will serve me well as I become an FFA advisor and have students who are applying for these degrees. 

This was also a great opportunity to build rapport with some of my students. While student teaching at a two teacher program, I have noticed that it can be difficult to build relationships with students who do not take one of my classes. However, the students who take Mr.Howell's classes are just as interested in FFA opportunities as my students are. ACES allowed us to take students from both the animal science and agricultural mechanics side of the program and learn more about them. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the many students who are enrolled in the agriculture program and the interesting perspectives and experiences that they bring to the program. 

Overall, ACES was a great opportunity to put my "teacher hat" on for an experience that I have had many times over my FFA career. I learned about the experience that are offered to teachers when they allow their students to take part in FFA activities, as well as, the importance of building rapport with all of the students in your program, even if they are not enrolled in your classes. This experience is something that I will take with me as I start my career as an agricultural educator.