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Academics and education researchers have long used the phrase “hidden curriculum” to describe the subtle processes that determines achievement in schools. Hidden curriculum includes implicit rules and norms that educators pass on without consciously realizing or teaching them, including interactions, modeling, systems, relationships, communication styles, and behaviors that take place in a school. All students need a chance to learn about the social, cultural, and environmental resources at their disposal for when they get stuck with real-life problems that they have to figure out on their own. What they need, then, is the hidden curriculum.
The implicit rules and social norms of the hidden curriculum help students learn how to ask for help, how to network, and how to offer themselves as a resource to others, too. These are tools for life. By keeping these tools hidden, educators restrict them to students already considered “achievers,” rather than making them available to all students. One great method of exposing the hidden curriculum might mean bringing in community members to help expand students’ notions of success through representation.
As agriculture teachers you have many industry connections in your local community. To help your students navigate the hidden curriculum invite new speakers into your classroom to connect with students, create a foundational SAE career exploration project for students to connect with people that look like them in the agricultural industry, or simply teach students how to make connections and approach people that fall into a different age range. Taking a new approach to uncovering hidden curriculum for students can truly help prepare them to be productive citizens and be successful in the future. To learn more about how you can help students discover the hidden curriculum we would encourage you to access the article "3 Ways to Harness the Hidden Curriculum" link provided.
Happy New Year everyone and please remember to reach out to Tamara Whitcomb, CTE Program Supervisor for Agricultural Education anytime you have questions or need assistance.
Source: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), Accessed on 1/10/24.
In this edition of the Ag Ed in Action newsletter, we would like to highlight The Sequim agricultural education program. Ag teachers (Bill, Candi and Lynette) at Sequim high school invited OSPI to visit their program to showcase the amazing things happening out on the peninsula with their students. With a meat processing facility on-site, food science labs, vet science, horticulture and floral programs and growing vegetables to harvest for the local food bank, these three industry certified teachers are making amazing connections with students at their school and within their community. They have a food truck, greenhouse facility, and 5 acre land lab with a barn to support student SAE projects as well. We would also encourage you to reach out to the teachers at Sequim if you would like to know more about their program, how they used grant funds to build and support their program or simply arrange to visit their facility. Many thanks for a truly spectacular visit Sequim Ag teachers!
Pictured Below: Sequim agricultural teachers Bill McFarlen, Candy Seelye, Lynette Jenne and Plant Science student Espy Salazar-Giribay.
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 Photo Credit: Tamara Whitcomb
The Washington Association of Agricultural Educators (WAAE) Member Experience Committee came up with the brilliant idea at summer conference of offering a monthly Owl Hour to provide opportunities to learn and grow as Ag teachers. Each month, an Ag teacher will host an hour–long professional development event on different topics for teachers.
WAAE President, Lori Sanderson, hosted the first Owl Hour back in December on resources and benefits of NAAE/WAAE membership as well as a round table on what we should offer our members. If you missed the first edition of Owl Hour, a recording is available on the WAAE website. To assist teachers as they continue to move through the year, WAAE has already selected topics for the next three months as listed.
February – National Chapter Award Application with Randi and Josh Krieg
March 12 – WAAE/ACTE Award Application Process with Sammi Jo Sims
As another tool to stay connected to WAAE we encourage you to start following them on Instagram @wa–ageducators. The WAAE website also includes resources for new teachers, information on how to join WAAE, district calendar to plan events, professional development opportunities, and provides details on all our WAAE traditions that help build a sense of community. We encourage you to check out the WAAE website to spark your interest and definitely bookmark the website in your favorites to access future WAAE conference information.
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This summer, Washington State University is sponsoring three in–person Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) institutes in Pullman, WA. They include:
AFNR Introduction to AFNR – July 8–12
Register using this link.
ESI - Environmental Science Issues – July 8–12
Register using this link.
SGE Briefcase- Small Gas Engines – July 15–17
Register by emailing J.D. Baser at WSU. Cost TBD but will include lunch, dinner, and single occupancy hotel in Pullman, WA.
The CASE Institute Registration opened in January 2024; save $200 with the early bird rate until Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024.
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It’s that time of year again everyone! FFA award application season is finally upon us. To assist you as FFA advisors Washington FFA state staff have updated many resources on the Washington FFA Association website. Applications that are Due by March 1 include the following: State FFA Degrees, Proficiency Award Applications, State Star Applications, American FFA Degrees, State Officer Candidate, and National Officer Candidate.
Please pick one person from your FFA district that will oversee the district review process and be responsible for submitting the results to Tamara Whitcomb at tamara.whitcomb@k12.wa.us by March 1. The applications that should be reviewed at the district level include State FFA Degrees, Proficiency Award Applications, and State Star Applications. Please utilize the New State FFA Degree Checklist to review your state degree applications at your district review. The district results should be submitted using the excel spreadsheet attached to this email. In preparation for your district reviews please print out your students’ applications and get all necessary signatures or documents attached before the district review takes place. A final review of all State and American FFA degrees will be completed by the State FFA Advisor before a list of recipients is published.
All applications should be submitted electronically to the state level using FFA.org or AET. If you have any American FFA Degree candidates, please send an email to Tamara Whitcomb at tamara.whitcomb@k12.wa.us and include a list of candidates so that we can ensure those applications are printed and reviewed at the March 9 application review. Please use the American Degree Checklist to assist your students in filling out the application.
If you have any questions or need assistance, please let us know. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!
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Welcome back everyone! We are excited to provide details for the Member Leadership Series! The registration link was opened on Monday, January 8th using this link: https://form.jotform.com/240036571941150
The first offering for the event will take place at the Red Lion Hotel in Ellensburg. Start time is 4:30pm on Friday and expected to end at 2:00pm on Saturday. Thanks to the support of the Washington FFA Foundation, we will be able to offer a second Member Leadership Series with those details to come soon.
Each chapter is limited to bringing 8 students to allow room for more chapters to participate. Price per student is $35 which includes the conference and meals. Hotel rooms will be booked by the chapters. We have a room block and will share those details once attendees are confirmed.
The information required for our registration is student name, grade, and conference choice (based on grade level). Details for the conference material can be found at this link: https://washingtonffa.org/leadershipevents
Thank you for promoting leadership opportunities to your FFA members!
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Registration for all non-convention spring Career Development Events (CDEs) will open on January 15, 2024. Contest and registration details will be posted on our website and communicated via email when registration is live. We will continue to utilize Judging Card as our registration platform for all spring CDE's.
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The importance of knowing who to contact and how to get ahold of them should never be overlooked. To assist in our communication efforts we have published the newly revised Washington FFA Communication Directory. This tool was originally developed by the Washington FFA Board of Directors as a resource for Washington state agricultural educators. Topics are broken down into sections based on who/where questions or concerns should be directed. This document contains links to various resources that may be helpful. Frequently asked questions are also included for reference.
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National FFA Scholarship Application Closes Tomorrow
Whether you are pursuing a trade school, vocational certificate or a two-year or four-year degree, don’t miss your chance to apply for a National FFA Scholarship to help with your next steps in education. There are multiple scholarship opportunities totaling nearly $2.5 million. If you are a senior FFA member in high school or FFA Alumni in college, apply today; the deadline is Thursday, Jan. 11.
Spring Semester-Long Living to Serve Grant Open
This grant provides middle/high school FFA chapters with up to $1,200 per semester to implement a service-learning project in their community for one semester. Apply today. Application closes Feb. 1.
Apply for New Century Farmer
Applications are now open for the 2024 New Century Farmer Conference, July 21-25, in Des Moines, Iowa. FFA Alumni ages 18-24 interested in pursuing a career in production agriculture are invited to apply. We’re also looking for conference facilitators. Apply to attend or facilitate by Thursday, Feb. 15.
Agricultural Proficiency Award 2024 Updates
The 2024 version of the Agricultural Proficiency Award Handbook is available on the Agricultural Proficiency Award program page of FFA.org. The new version includes all the updates made to the application and was released in detail in August. Please find a copy of that detailed release here.
The 2024 Scoring Rubrics for the 2024 Agricultural Proficiency Award application have also been posted to the Agricultural Proficiency Award program page of FFA.org. Click here to be linked directly to the folder.
Scholarship Opportunity for Native American Members to Attend WLC
The Tribal Agriculture Fellowship is proud to partner with the National FFA Organization to sponsor Native American high school students to attend WLC in Washington, D.C., annually. The scholarship includes coverage of registration fees, flight costs and the first and last day of travel. Click here to apply.
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FFA members have the opportunity to connect with agriculture industry professionals at the 2024 Spokane Ag Show and Pacific Northwest Farm Forum. The FFA program will be hosted on February 8, 2024 at the Spokane Convention Center. This year they are hosting a panel of agriculture professionals presenting "From Field to Feed: Today's Jobs in Ag Communications". This will be followed by a Career Fair designed to enlighten high school students about careers in agriculture and the need for employees with a business background.
For more information on this event designed for FFA members we encourage you to check out the FFA advisor memo and registration form resources available.
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The Country Living Expo and Modern Homesteading event is sponsored by Skagit County WSU Extension. This event is scheduled for January 27, 2024 and will take place at Stanwood high school. This year's key note speaker is Jon Paul Driver, the founder of Hay Kings and an agricultural economist with Washington State University.
This event is designed to help students and teachers build their knowledge and skill through a variety of agriculture based courses. The class booklet and registration form links are provided to help register. For more information please contact WSU Skagit County Extension by emailing countrylivingexpo1@gmail.com.
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The second annual Washington Climate Education Summit, sponsored by ClimeTime, seeks to develop a network of interdisciplinary educators ready to integrate climate solutions and understanding across all content areas and levels of education. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about climate science and integrating climate learning into their classrooms and have time to collaborate across and within grade levels and content areas.
This event will be held at ESD 101 in Spokane on April 19–20, 2024. We are inviting K–12 educators and educator leaders from across the state to apply to attend with a short application. We hope to have voices from all across the state in all grade levels and content areas attend the Summit.
To apply to attend the Summit, please fill out the application. The priority deadline for this application is January 31, 2024. All applications are due by March 1, 2024. The conference is grant supported so there is no registration fee and the clock hours will also be free of charge. Travel, lodging, and substitute costs cannot be covered. Please see this support document to reference when discussing attendance with your district.
For more information on this event please contact:
Lori Henrickson, Climate Science Curriculum Integration Consultant, OSPI lori.henrickson@k12.wa.us
Johanna Brown, Associate Director; Secondary Science, OSPI johanna.brown@k12.wa.us
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Each year, Washington state has openings for agricultural education teaching positions at various locations across the state. As openings for agricultural education teachers are made available this school year, please contact J.D. Baser, Associate Professor at Washington State University at jbaser@wsu.edu, to provide details on the posting. All openings submitted will be made available for anyone to access using the provided link. |
To assist all FFA advisors in the field, the FFA Association has provided links to common documents that are great resources when you are just starting out. These resources can also be found on the Washington FFA Association website.
Career and Technical Education (CTE) has an active link on the OSPI website titled CTE Resources and Essentials. This website provides important resources for CTE agricultural education teachers that could prove useful this school year. Check out all the fabulous finds below:
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