Banquet was beautiful. It was great to see the many accomplishments and activities the chapter completed through out the year. They also honored by brother during the banquet, which was so thoughtful and amazing. My brother was made into an honorary member, so he will always remain on Northern Lebanon's FFA roster. The mechanics chapter trophy was also renamed in his memory, and will always serve as a reminder in the ag program. The chapter also presented us with a gift some of the students had made. They took a piece of metal and cut it out in the shape of one of his derby cars. They then placed a flag in the background, as my brother loved the american flag. There plaque and the cummins "C' made for us by the CTC Diesel Tech kids have plans to be hung above the garage door in our breezeway. As Steven spent most of his time in the garage.
The next day was a great trip down memory lane. I spent my day seeing what a school day in the NL ag department is like 4 years after I graduated. I also got to see it from the perspective of a teacher, and no longer a student. Ill start by saying there have been some additions and updates to our department! We have an almost fulling functioning kitchen in our shop now! This is a great benefit to our food science class. There also have been some artistic updates. One of the students was very artistic, and got permission to paint a mural on our wall in the shop as well as some additional art on the brick pen in the barn. The mural is beautiful and really brightens up the otherwise white plain brick. 
One last thing I will talk about was my time spent with our freshman. The greatest recruitment tool we have as a chapter is the fact that every pair of freshman gets to take care of and raise rabbits. The students love being able to get hands on with an animal and have some ownership in there class. While I was there, we spent some time bunny bonding and helping to socialize our rabbits. I really hope I get to implement a very similar project in my future classroom.
Katie, its awesome that your turned your visit to your home chapter into a positive educational experience. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Katie.
ReplyDeleteI love how you still take ownership in the program and talk about "our" facilities. Think about how you are going to engender those same feelings of ownership by your future students in your future program.