Two University of Minnesota Crookston Ag Education students were recently recognized by The Minnesota Agricultural Education Leadership Council (MAELC) as two 2021 Minnesota Teach Ag Ambassadors. UMC Sophomores, Britton Fuglseth of Fertile, and Faith Kowalke of Sartell, were chosen along with four others from Minnesota institutions that train future agriculture teachers.
This program works to address the demand for agriculture teachers and was developed by Minnesota’s State Teach Ag Results (STAR) committee, which is coordinated by MAELC. STAR is a component of the National Teach Ag Campaign.
The purpose of the Minnesota Teach Ag Ambassador program is to utilize current collegiate students majoring in Agricultural Education-Teacher Licensure to represent the Agricultural Education profession and encourage others to teach agriculture.
“As a Minnesota Teach Ag Ambassador, I am most looking forward to seeing that little spark of intrigue in students grow as they listen and learn more about the endless possibilities and priceless takeaways of being an agricultural educator,” said Faith Kowalke.
Individuals were chosen for the program; two from each Minnesota institution that trains future agriculture teachers:
Anna Bucketine, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities)
Britton Fuglseth (University of Minnesota – Crookston)
Faith Kowalke (University of Minnesota – Crookston)
Leah Schmid (Southwest Minnesota State University)
Kaylea Van Regenmorter (Southwest Minnesota State University)
Emilee Xayanourom (University of Minnesota – Twin Cities)
“Agriculture is a never-ending occupation that serves as the backbone of our world and includes a diverse set of occupations. It is not just farmers and ranchers but also our beekeepers, food scientists, agronomists, soil engineers, botanists, biologists, wildlife officers, and the list goes on. The cool thing about agricultural education is that it gets to prepare and build those people… the next generation and because of that, I can’t think of a better occupation to go into. As a Minnesota Teach Ag Ambassador, I am so thrilled and excited to get to spread the word of how amazing this occupation is and invite more students to become a part of it,” said Fuglseth.
This class of Teach Ag Ambassadors will serve through January 2022. Along with supporting National Teach Ag Day activities on September 16, 2021 the ambassadors will spend their term encouraging high school and postsecondary students to consider a career in teaching agriculture. The ambassadors will use several different outlets to accomplish this task including social media, email, workshops, booths, and presentations, where they will answer questions about Minnesota Teach Ag and agricultural education.
