Henderson Selected to National Tech Agricultural Program
Former Valley High School student Annaliese Henderson is one of two West Virginia University students selected to join the National Tech Agricultural Ambassador program.
Henderson, of Littleton, along with Matt Wood, of Cordova, Md., are currently students in WVU’s Agricultural and Extension Education Program in the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design.
Henderson, along with Wood, were selected from a nationwide pool of candidates. The 2015-2016 Teach Agriculture Ambassadors will promote agricultural education as a college major and career to high school students at the 2015 National Future Farmers of American Convention in Louisville, Ky., on Oct. 28-30.
“I was very involved in FFA in high school, and it has continued at the collegiate level. I was a WV state FFA officer in 2011-2012 and have been very active in our chapter through various contests and activities. I had always wanted to be an agricultural educator since I was young and was very involved in my program in high school and had three of the best mentors of my studies to help me along the way: Mr. Virgil Wilkins, Mr. Howard Henderson, and Ms. Annie Hall. I could not be where I am today without their knowledge and encouragement!” Henderson stated.
Henderson, now a senior at WVU, states that she applied to be a part of the National Teach Agriculture Campaign in March. She will be part of a twelve person team for the next year, telling people why she decided to be an Agricultural Education teacher and being an ambassador for the profession.
“I am very blessed to receive this opportunity and bring it back to Wetzel County to help advocate for Agricultural Education and to share and work with teachers all over West Virginia to help gain and retain more teachers from our classrooms,” she stated.
In a press release for WVU, Henderson said she will be following in her agriculture teacher father’s footseps.
“He taught me everything I ever needed to know, and over his years of teaching, I go to experience what he taught his own students and see the opportunities they got to have,” she said.
Henderson said she fell in love with WVU, and growing up in West Virginia, always wanted to stay close to home. She said she always heard so much about WVU’s agricultural education program, and it sounded like the school for her.
The ambassadors will work along with their states to develop plans to promote the recruitment and retention of agriculture teachers in an effort to address the current national shortage. The ambassadors will also devleop and maintain a cohort of current and future teachers of agriculture, fostering mentor/mentee relationships and connections.
The National Teach Agriculture Campaign is an initiative of the National Council for Agricultural Education led by the National Association of Agricultural Educators. Funded by the CHS Foundation, DuPoint Pioneer, and Growth Energy as a speical project of the National FFA Foundation, the campaign is designed to raise awareness of career opportunities in agricultural education and celebrate the positive contributions that agriculture teachers make in their schools and communities.