Agri teachers gather at Arkansas Tech

RUSSELLVILLE — The teachers were engaged in one of two tracks: Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education Principles of Agricultural Science-Plant or Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education Agricultural Power and Technology. Those who successfully completed the twoweek institute, which concluded Friday, earned three hours of graduate credit.

Teachers from Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and West Virginia were among the 22 participants and four lead teachers who traveled to Russellville for the professional-development opportunity, sponsored by DuPont Pioneer and Farm Credit of Western Arkansas.

According to information published at www.atu.edu/

case, Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education Institute sessions “provide teachers important background related to the pedagogy used in CASE curricula and the practice teaching of various lessons to prepare them for classroom instruction.”

Lucas Maxwell, assistant professor of agricultural education at ATU and director of the ATU CASE Institute, said there are multiple benefits beyond that baseline.

“What CASE does for these teachers is to provide them with the tools to engage with their students in real, hands-on, minds-on learning activities,” Maxwell said. “As a result, students take the science and math concepts they are studying in other classes and see how they apply to the growing agriculture industry.”

Visit atu.edu/agriculture to learn more about the ATU Department of Agriculture.