The Agriculture Educators Creed states: I will strive to set before my students by my deeds and actions the highest standards of citizenship for the community, state and nation. I will endeavor to develop professionally through study, travel and exploration. It was that passion for professional development that gathered agriculture educators from across the state to the 2012 Colorado Vocational Agriculture Teachers Associations Mid-Winter Conference held January 27-28 in Colorado Springs. Kevin McComb and Amanda Ramos, agriculture education instructors from Montezuma-Cortez High School, joined others from across Colorado representing the Colorado Vocational Agriculture Teachers Association (CVATA) at the conference that focused on strengthening the three components of agriculture education: classroom instruction, Supervised Agriculture Experience Programs, and FFA.
Agriculture educators immersed themselves in workshops and also attended several updates from various groups. Ag teachers were enamored by Keynote Speaker Scott Stump, Interim President of Northeastern Junior College, who spoke regarding upcoming opportunities that Ag teachers have for preparing students for employment and success in life. McComb and Ramos also took part in roundtable discussions on topics including classroom instruction, FFA, Supervised Agricultural Experience Program (SAEP), Agriculture Experience Tracker (AET) (Journal), AET (Reports), and AET (Finances). Throughout the two day conference McComb and Ramos and other Colorado Ag teachers rotated through workshops that covered various topics from Clay Works, National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) Awards, Proficiency Applications, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) Cooperatives, Career and Technical Education (CTE) Standards Website, Colorado State Fair Crop Show, Managing an Agricultural Education Lab and Inquiry Based Science Learning.
Communications from the CVATA officer team, Colorado Ag teachers, and state staff helped teachers integrate the opportunities from this conference directly into their local curriculum to aid in student success. Teachers also saw firsthand the post-secondary opportunities that exist in CTE at Colorado State University.
Colorado Ag teachers will converge in Cortez for their annual summer conference in June. The Southwest FFA District, which includes Ignacio, Durango, Dolores, Dove Creek and Cortez, is hosting the annual event at Montezuma-Cortez High School.