Good Afternoon ICAE, ILCAE, and State Staff.
Just wanted to take a moment to share some good news!
In January, Luke Allen traveled to New York City for a professional learning exchange with Amber Thibodeau, the only other Urban Program Advisor in the nation. Amber began her role at the same time FCAE launched the Chicago Area Program Advisor position. She brings a background in managing her state’s FFA Camp, but did not teach in the classroom. As a result, Luke was able to assist with two school visit discussions, helping new teachers in developing program goals and addressing local challenges. Luke shared ideas and strategies from Chicago and also brought back new approaches to share with Illinois teachers.
Key takeaways:
Passionate teachers are the most significant factor influencing student learning and program growth.
In both Chicago and New York City, most agriculture teachers are provisionally licensed and lack prior experience with FFA or SAE. In Chicago, 12 teachers hold an ELS, while only 3 hold a PEL.
Programs in both cities are primarily built around food or environmental curricula, which present a major opportunity for program expansion and increased student engagement.
Both cities share a strong interest in providing employment training for students with disabilities and have established FFA chapters in schools serving special populations to support career readiness.
Special education programs in both cities struggle to find meaningful FFA engagement beyond the chapter level; during the visit, ideas were brainstormed to expand FFA experiences for these students.
A significant shared challenge is funding for transportation, limiting opportunities outside the school building, despite strong interest in increasing FFA participation and off-campus experiences.
Teachers in both cities expressed strong interest in a future “teacher exchange” to visit similar programs and share best practices.
Hope you enjoy the attached photos.
Thank you to each of you for all of your contributions to IL Ag Education. We look forward to Amber visiting our Chicago programs and highlighting Illinois Agricultural Education.
Sincerely,
Jennifer
-- Jennifer Waters
Facilitating Coordination in Ag Education (FCAE)
Phone: 217-827-0633
Cell: 217-827-0633
Email: jwaters@ilaged.org
Address: 211 IL-125, Pleasant Plains, IL 62677
Improving and Expanding Agricultural Education Pre-K through Adulthood
Alerts Recipients
State Staff & Support Teams
Other: ICAE
Other: ILCAE
