On the morning of Monday, July 21st, my alarm
clock rang at 5:30am. I rolled out of bed, threw on my favorite Penn State
Teach Ag! t-shirt, and got ready for the drive to Mifflinburg Area High School.
I had to meet my cooperating teacher, Mr. Chuck Kessler, at 7:30am in the ag
room. When I arrived at the school, we loaded the scales and tattooing
equipment, and hit the road for a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE)
visit.
After a short drive and a brief tour of rural Mifflinburg,
we arrived at a small family farm where we were greeted by a freshman FFA
member, and his two siblings. With only a few weeks left until the fair and a
weight limit of 200-300 pounds, it is essential that students ensure that their
hogs are on track. As we set up our scales and checked out the hogs and the
barn, the student’s father arrived to help. Weighing these pigs sure was a
family affair!
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| Just a few of the hogs that we weighed |
We opted to run the pigs from their pen, through the scales
and into a holding area at the end of the barn. Everyone grabbed a sorting
board, and we released the first pig. The barrow moved with ease down the hall,
and Mr. Kessler commended the student for working with the pig. The student
laughed, and admitted that yesterday was the first day he had worked with the
hogs in a while. We repeated this process for all six hogs (two of which were
another FFA member’s animals). With the exception of one small Duroc, all
other animals seemed right on track for the fair.
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| A page from the student's SAE record book |
After cleaning up the scales, Mr. Kessler asked to see the student’s Production SAE book. Upon opening it, he discovered lots of blank pages and incomplete notes, which could be expected for a freshman student. Because of this incompleteness, Mr. Kessler recommended that the student stop into the ag room next week to get some help with it during an SAE work day.
Mr. Kessler went through each page of the SAE book, marking
incomplete sections, making comments and giving the student recommendations.
For each incomplete section, Mr. Kessler would tell the student what needed to
be entered. For instance, the student had a very inaccurate and unfinished
record of purchases. Mr. Kessler asked where the student got his feed, how much
feed the student typically purchases, etc. This gave the student a better
understanding of what needed to be entered into the SAE book.
The student had also recorded hours that he had spent
building an end table in his Production SAE book. Mr. Kessler recommended that
he take those hours out, and instead enter the end table as a separate project
in the fair. The student’s father was quick to agree with this suggestion.
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| Mr. Kessler, the student and his family gathered around the hood of Mr. Kessler's vehicle to look over his SAE record book |
As we left the student’s house, Mr. Kessler asked if I
enjoyed the visit, then followed up by saying “that is the best part of the
job! I love my job, if you can’t tell”. He went on to explain that sometimes,
he spends hours on an SAE visit talking to students and their parents. He said
that anyone who doesn’t do SAE visits is foolish, because it is such a great
opportunity to get to know the student and their family.
After we completed the SAE visit, we went to another
student’s house to tattoo her sister’s 4H rabbits. Mr. Kessler encouraged me to
do the tattooing, which was an awesome experience. He said that he doesn’t mind
working with and helping out 4H clubs, because they are a partner organization.
Although this was not part of the SAE visit, this visit was a new experience
for me, and was something that may come in handy in the future.
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| Two of the four rabbits that we tattooed for a local 4H member |
Overall, I am extremely happy with how the SAE visit turned out.
I had a lot of fun visiting the students, and it was awesome to see so much
family involvement in their SAE project. However, my favorite part of the visit
had nothing to do with the students or their projects.
My favorite part was watching Mr. Kessler interact with the students and their parents, and hearing him comment on how important SAE visits are and how much he loves what he does. Not only did it inspire me, but it also made me even more eager to begin my student teaching internship with him in the spring. To say the least, I am more than happy with my placement and can’t wait to see what this experience brings!
My favorite part was watching Mr. Kessler interact with the students and their parents, and hearing him comment on how important SAE visits are and how much he loves what he does. Not only did it inspire me, but it also made me even more eager to begin my student teaching internship with him in the spring. To say the least, I am more than happy with my placement and can’t wait to see what this experience brings!
