Ag educator participates in Statewide Summit

DES MOINES — More than 230 agricultural educators and college students took part in the Second Annual Iowa Agricultural Education Summit Jan. 27-28 at the Varied Industries Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.

John Daniels, the Agricultural Educator/FFA Advisor at Belle Plaine High School, attended the event.

The focus of this year’s Agricultural Education Summit was the development of Supervised Agricultural Experience projects and implementation of Work Based Learning, according to a press release from the Department of Education.

Agriculture programs in Iowa schools consist of three main areas: the classroom education, SAE and the FFA student leadership organization, the press release said.

SAE challenges students to develop skills for future employment by working with them in the areas of entrepreneurship, placement, agriscience research, school-based enterprises or service learning.

The Ag Educators had the opportunity to hear presentations from 10 different speakers from five states about implementation of SAEs in the school program. In addition, workshops were held to assist teachers with strategies for making SAEs better fit the new Work Based Learning initiatives in Iowa, according to the press release.

Over 36,000 Iowa students are taught Agricultural Education by 307 teachers in 285 Iowa schools. The Iowa FFA Association will be celebrating their 100th Anniversary in 2028.