Katie Emmett of Sleepy Eye Public Schools is hosting Meta Tewes as a Minnesota Agricultural Education Intern. The internship is part of a State Teach Ag Results (STAR) program initiative, which is coordinated by the Minnesota Agricultural Education Leadership Council (MAELC). Tewes is originally from Jackson, MN and is studying Agricultural Education at South Dakota State University.
During the internship, Tewes will be working closely with Emmett to help local students and community members engage in agricultural education throughout the summer months. “I decided to go into agricultural education because when I was in high school, my advisor’s son started to ask a lot of questions about my sheep and cattle. Through talking with him and educating about my livestock, I realized that teaching is what I was meant to do,” said Tewes.
“Sleepy Eye is excited to have an intern for the summer. We do a lot of leadership, service, and agricultural events and hope that Meta learns a lot and has a great experience,” stated Emmett.
The purpose of the Agricultural Education Internship is to spark an interest in current collegiate students to consider entering the teaching profession and to provide hands-on experience as an agriculture teacher. Six students majoring in Agricultural Education have been selected and paired with current Minnesota agriculture teachers for the summer. The experience will focus on summer programming, such as Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) visits, curriculum development, community events, and FFA leadership trainings. One week will be spent at the Minnesota Association of Agricultural Educators (MAAE) summer conference, providing opportunities for professional development and networking. Interns can also take advantage of optional activities including Minnesota FFA summer conferences, specialized professional development workshops, and a tour of local agriculture, food and natural resource programs at multiple school districts.
This internship was made possible by generous donations from AgCountry Farm Credit Services, CHS Foundation, Christensen Farms, Compeer Financial, and MAELC.
MAELC is a 16-member legislative council that provides leadership to promote and expand agricultural education in Minnesota. The state legislature, agricultural educators, and agriculture industry leaders are all represented on the council.