Why should you care what I did in Korea?

Since returning to the United States, I have talked to many people about the trip. Some of the most popular questions include:

• "What was the weirdest food you ate?"
• "What was your favorite part?"
• "What was the worst part?"
• "Where did you go?"
• "Who did you go with?"

Many more questions follow, but one that makes me the most excited is "What are you going to do with what you learned?" You may think this is weird, but as an educator, I am always striving for more knowledge. If I can share that knowledge, then I am sharing one of my greatest passions.

Chris Wilder, Kelli Hamilton and Jason Steward

This week I was able to work with Chris Wilder and Jason Steward again to share our experience with fellow Ag Educators at the Florida Association of Agriculture Educators conference. There were about 15 people in the session. We experienced a great open discussion with the teachers that posed many valid questions.

With the assistance of Jeremy Rhoden, we were able to tie in the experience (global education) to Florida Sunshine State Standards of the various agriculture courses offered in Florida schools. This showed them where it was required that they teach about agriculture on a global scale. But we also shared ideas on how to include global agriculture and global economies in all the courses and levels that we teach.

As an introduction for the session I prepared this video. It was a short something for them to see a little bit of what we did and why we went to Korea. It also started their wheels rolling.

 

We had a lot of positive feedback from the participants. I am proud to say that at the end of the information session, there was an enthusiasm for the upcoming year and including more global aspects to our curriculum.



Dr. Kirby Barrick, Jason Steward, Chris Wilder, and Kelli Hamilton

If we are to help develop globally competent individuals, we need to be able to relate the things we interact with everyday to the world around us. It is not just about our small community, it never was. We are just a small piece in a giant puzzle. As educators, it is our responsibility to start and continue opening the eyes of our students, to help them realize that, no matter what, we are all connected; if by nothing else than agriculture.