Agricultural Education Club creates an environment for future teachers and leaders to grow

The world wouldn't run without its agricultural industry and, behind the scenes, there is a community of educators working to help train the next generation of farmers, ranchers and agriculturists. 

MSU has a dedicated major for this, called Agriculture and Technology Education (Ag Ed), which includes a teaching option and a Communication, Leadership and Extension (CLE) option. On the teaching side, students gain instructional and presentation skills about a variety of agricultural subjects. CLE students pick a focus between learning how to communicate agricultural developments, how to work with people in leadership positions or how to educate others in extension programs. 

Calla Moore, president of the Ag Ed Club and junior Ag Ed major, said one of the biggest goals of the club is to clear up misconceptions about what Ag Ed really is. 

“People assume that [Ag Ed people] are just the future teachers and [Future Farmers of America (FFA)] advisors of Montana,” Moore said. “But we are also the CLE majors. So the communications for agriculture, the leadership for agriculture and extension for agriculture.”

Moore said Ag Ed provides CLE majors a chance to see what opportunities are possible for them outside of teaching. According to her, Ag Ed students explore the role of extension in communities and learn about how to communicate information about agriculture to those looking to join the field — or to the general public. 

“Seeing the incredible broadness of things that you can do that make an impact on ag in your community just through visiting with the locals in the community that work with your major, is really, really cool,” Moore said. 

Karen Guardado is a sophomore Ag Ed CLE major, with a focus in communication. She began her time at MSU as a business marketing major, but switched to Ag Ed in order to combine her two passions. 

“When I was in high school, I competed in ag communications contests for FFA and really enjoyed the aspect of marketing for agriculture. Being able to share the story of agriculture and our current systems of agriculture that's going on right now,” she said. “I feel like a lot of people have misrepresentations of it, or like just aren't as aware of what's going on within our ag culture, or what even is classified as agriculture beyond farming and ranching.”

Guardado said she joined the Ag Ed Club because of the support she felt within the community. 

“As a first-generation student, it's kind of hard to manage your way around college without that help — and then they were stepping in and helping me find these resources and guiding me to what might potentially be an interest to me,” she said. “[It] has been really helpful in making me feel more confident within my studies and within my career path that I've chosen.”

Along with providing growth opportunities for CLE majors, Moore said the Ag Ed Club is also working to support the teaching side of Ag Ed. One thing they have implemented is microteaching sessions, which give members the opportunity to give a presentation to their peers on anything agriculture related.

According to Moore, opportunities like microteaching give Ag Ed Club members the opportunity to fail before it really matters. 

“We suddenly have all these students that are interested in being vulnerable and trying something to try to get better at it in front of our club,” she said. “Through Ag Ed Club, we have an opportunity to practice things based on our strengths and weaknesses that we really want to work on, that curriculum, or just [the] framework of being graded doesn't always allow.”

Ag Ed Club members also have opportunities to run workshops for high school FFA competitions. Moore said running workshops gives future teachers field experiences with students and allows them to make a difference in their lives. 

“We all had experiences with workshops in FFA, now we're old enough that we can be the ones that [are] giving the workshops,” Moore said. “We're trying to give those opportunities that we had when we were younger, and we kind of had the realization that if Ag Ed Club wasn't doing it — nobody was doing it.”

Moore said her time in the Ag Ed Club has given her experience and confidence going into her future as a teacher. 

“It's been the best amount of support going from high school to running myself as an adult that will lead my own program someday,” she said. “I think that anyone that is nervous about that, or doesn't know where they stand, being an officer of a good club is a really great place to start.” 

Ag Ed Club will be hosting their next event on Oct. 26 to celebrate the kick-off of Ag Week. For more information on Ag Ed Club, visit its Instagram @msu.aged.club.