
Agricultural Career Education
Harrisburg: At a recent Conference on Agriculture Education here, Dr. J. Marcos Fernandez from the College of Agricultural Science at Penn State University suggested three recent reports related to agricultural education to nearly 100 people who attended. They included…
- “Transforming Agricultural Education for a Changing World” which suggests “Nine Steps for Achieving Change in Ag Education” from the National Academies of Science. This report, authored by a committee convened by the National Research Council, considers the evolving agricultural enterprise and identifies opportunities for undergraduate programs to more effectively support a flexible, well-prepared workforce. Click here for a downloadable Executive Summary;
- “Human Capacity Development: The Road to Global Competitiveness and Leadership in Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences” which summarizes an expert consensus report from the National Research Council that clearly signals an urgent need for and a commitment to transforming education in agriculture. Success of this transformation will require robust partnerships between universities and USDA, industry, and public education systems and a significant increase in public investment. Click here for a downloadable copy of the Report;
- “A New Biology for the 21st Century” proposes that biology has the potential to contribute practical solutions to many of the major challenges confronting the United States and the world including sustainable food production, ecosystem restoration, optimized biofuel production, and improvements in human health. Click here for a downloadable copy.
Encourage and Educating Young People for Agricultural Careers
With the general shortage of workers because of demographic trends and the overall decline in farm familiies, keeping a supply of skilled agricultural workers has become an important theme for the survival of the industry.
Not only does the Center of Excellence in Production Agriculture work with traditional agriculture careers programs like the National FFA Organization but it also coordinates its efforts with the Lancaster County Youth Council to provide career information on a broader basis to young people in late elementary school through higher education. Agricultural careers are included on the Top 100 Hot Jobs in Lancaster County for the coming decade. Click here for more information.
Coordination of high school agriculture programs where they share programming, link to complementary programs at the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center, and then articulate credits with higher education at Harrisburg Area Community College and Penn State University is a priority task of the Center of Excellence.
Currently, there are 11 agriculture education programs at the following school districts which also have active National FFA Organization chapters as a part of their work…
- Elizabethtown Area High School and Elizabethtown FFA. Contact Mark Anderson or Sarah Thoman at 717-367-1533
- Ephrata Area High School and Cloister FFA. Contact Sarah Quigg at 717-721-1478 ext. 19343
- Garden Spot High School and Grassland FFA. Contact Robert Lauffer, Tracy Marchini, or Jeff Stoltzfus at 717-354-1500
- Lampeter-Strasburg High School and Garden Spot FFA. Contact Holly Oberholtzer or Stephen Smith at 717-464-331
- Lancaster County Career and Technology Center and Brownstown FFA. Contact Lance Hammond at 717-859-5100
- Lancaster Mennonite High School and Hans Herr FFA. Contact Ryan King at 717-299-0436
- Manheim Central High School and Manheim FFA. Contact Heather Anderson, Jonathan Werning, and Debbie Seibert at 717-664-8552
- Penn Manor High School and Manor FFA. Contact Carole Fay, Neil Fellenbaum, Jonathan Hess, or Amanda Stoltzfus at 717-872-9520
- Pequea Valley High School and Pequea Valley FFA. Contact Clair Witwer at 717-768-5500
- Solanco High School and Solanco FFA. Contact Stephanie Balmer, Carey Kalupson, Kelly Lichtley, or Axel Linde at 717-786-2151
- Warwick High School and Warwick FFA. Contact Lisa Hochreiter or Brad McClain at 717-626-3700