Agriculture Workforce Training for Collaborative Leadership (AWT4CL)

by Ben Casteel   --  Lemurs are the world’s most endangered mammal.  All species of lemur come from one large, isolated island – Madagascar; however, you don’t have to necessarily travel across the globe to see these fascinating creatures.  At this moment, you may be wondering what lemurs could possibly have in common with the training and development of our agriculture workforce.  Actually, there is a lot to learn about lemurs and agriculture, but today we will be examining how the engagement of students with these exotic animals is helping to close the gap in needed employability skills . In last month’s AWT4CL blog post, we heard from esteemed colleague Heather Butler about Facilitating Field Trips and Guest Speaker Sessions for Effective Student Learning and how building in extra time in the planning phase helps to facilitate a truly great field trip.  Over the past few years, I have witnessed students gaining even deeper insight and opportunity for gr...

By Dr. Heather Lindberg --  Internships are a great opportunity for students to bridge the gap between classrooms—which emphasize theory with minimal practice and application—and industry, which focuses on applying theory and solving problems in real time with real consequences. Internships can help to address this gap. Research indicates that internships can help to ease this transition for students—from the classroom to the workforce—by providing dedicated mentorship, training, and experience within the industry setting (Veenstra, 2014) . Roanoke Valley, VA and surrounding areas are encouraging innovation related to agriculture, life sciences, and the biotechnology industry. Programs, such as Regional Acceleration and Mentoring Program (RAMP) , a regional business accelerator, help to support STEM-related startup companies.  Some of these startups will turn into companies, increasing employment opportunities in the region.  With these developments, there will be more o...

By  Celeste Carmichael --  What is the equation of experiences that helps us to identify as learners, leaders, and enthusiasts?  For most that equation goes beyond the classroom and into out of school time activities, recreation, jobs, and relationships.  What if we, as formal educators, intentionally recognize the value of those experiences and point to similar opportunities for enrichment?  The Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington and the LIFE Center— a research collaboration between the University of Washington, Stanford University, and SRI International, supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF)—established a panel to study this question and develop a set of principles that could help us to weave together learning across contexts and help students succeed. The panel poses that if educators make use of the informal learning that occurs in the homes, communities, and co-curricular activities of students, the achievement ...