Jessica Grundy, the Agriculture teacher at Wayne High School, was selected as a National Agriscience Teacher Ambassador. Last weekend Mrs. Grundy met in Orlando, Florida with other teachers to attend a bootcamp for National Agriscience Teacher Ambassadors.

This group of agriscience educators came to Orlando to learn more about the "how" of teaching. That may seem a little odd considering these folks from 10 different states represented decades of combined classroom experience.

These select National Agriscience Teacher Ambassadors were training to become facilitators. Their goal was to learn more about the mechanics behind teaching other teachers. Their topic? How inquiry-based learning and increased science rigor can increase student achievement.

During the two-day bootcamp, participants were drilled on a variety of facilitation techniques, like using inclusive language and movement as a way to signal what your learner can expect next and giving directions that produce the desired outcomes (it’s harder than you’d think). True to the hands-on philosophy of agriscience education, participants practiced these over and over, often being stopped mid-lesson by mentor facilitators and gently guided back on the right path.

“As we’re sending these facilitators out to be teachers of teachers, that’s a departure from their normal every day in the classroom.” said Wes Crawford, an agriscience teacher from Oregon who is also a National Agriscience Teacher Ambassador Mentor Facilitator who co-lead the training.

“While they bring a wealth of knowledge, we need to help them be even more impactful, so when they’re done with other teachers from across the United States, those teachers can go back and be purposeful in implementing agriscience and inquiry in their own classrooms.”

Congratulations Mrs. Grundy!! We know that the lessons you learned will impact the teachers you are going to train. But more importantly you are becoming even a better teacher, which will help your students in Wayne High School.