This spring has looked a little different this year for teachers across the country. That hasn’t stopped them from doing their jobs and continuing to advocate for their students and the subjects they believe in.
This summer, more than 50 agricultural education teachers are taking their passion for agriculture and sharing their story to local communities and beyond — as part of the National Teacher Ambassadors for FFA program.
The program, which began in 2016, provides teachers with the tools to share information about FFA and agricultural education with their communities. Teachers selected for the program receive intensive training in June to learn and collaborate on educational resources. This year’s training will look a little different than years past, as participants will go through training online.
Throughout the year, the ambassadors will present multiple workshops and work with teachers from across the country to brainstorm and share ideas. Through the year, the ambassadors will serve as a voice of the organization to teachers across the country. They will, in turn, provide feedback from those in the educational field to the National FFA Organization. In addition, four past teacher ambassadors will be serving as mentors and providing support for this year’s teacher ambassadors.
“Our ambassadors play an important role for us — not only by sharing information out in the field but also by sharing with us the challenges our teachers and advisors face every day,” said Christine White, chief program officer for the National FFA Organization. “Through this program, we hope to equip teachers with the tools they need to be successful in not only developing future leaders but also in telling their stories.”
Those individuals who have been selected to serve on the FFA Teacher Ambassador program are:
Alabama — Emily Hammett; Jeff McKinney
Arkansas — Jacob Marek
Arizona — Aleah Shook
California — Nicole Borba; Jason Ferreira; Jordana Faria
Connecticut — Pebbles Lacross
Florida — Shelby Ball
Georgia — Pauline Benton; Nancy Sell
Idaho — Cody Sanders; Samuel Hoffman
Illinois — Stephanie Thoms
Indiana — Carlee Dittemore; Shelby Lee
Iowa — Bridget Mahoney
Kansas — Kim Clark; KaCee James
Kentucky — Jacob Ball; Kristan Wright
Maryland — Leasa Gudderra
Michigan — Jennifer Glombowski
Minnesota — Jennifer McCauley
Mississippi — Millie Chism
Missouri —Jackie Carlson; Avery Deevers; Sarah Ray
Montana — J.R. Pierce
New Hampshire — Debora Stevens
Nevada — Tamra Herschbach
New York — Tina Miner-James
North Carolina — Jillian Ford; Amie Mabe; Amber Nead
North Dakota — Breanna Bregel; Nikki Fideldy-Doll;
Ohio — Hannah Everetts
Oklahoma — Cody Dawson
Oregon — Abby Chase
Pennsylvania — Melanie Berndtson; Darla Romberger
Puerto Rico — Kenneth Barbosa
South Carolina — Kelsey McLean
Tennessee — Brittany Davi; Hailey Gates; Ryan Inman
Texas — Kasey Naylor; Tyler Price; Lily West;
Utah — Kaylee Liddiard
Virginia — Paryce Black
West Virginia — Brianne McCauley
Wisconsin — Sandra Dee Naas; Emma Huber
These individuals have been selected to serve as mentors for the teacher ambassadors:
Idaho — Katie Cooper
Missouri — Josh Bondy
Ohio — Abby Readshaw
Texas — Charlotte Main
The National FFA Organization provides leadership, personal growth and career success training through agricultural education to more than 700,000 student members who belong to one of the more than 8,600 local FFA chapters throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The organization is also supported by more than 8 million alumni and supporters throughout the U.S.
