Taylor Bogardus, agriscience educator at Schoharie Jr./Sr. High School, recently attended virtual professional development institutes through Arkansas Tech University and University of Kentucky to teach the Ag, Power & Technology (APT) and Agricultural Science: Animal (ASA) Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) course in the Schoharie Agricultural Education program.
Bogardus applied for and received full funding of $6,200 for the professional development institutes through generous scholarships and grants from SUNY Cobleskill, Farm Credit East ACA and the NY Association of Agricultural Educators. In doing so, her program at Schoharie also received over $2,400 worth of equipment and supplies for students that will be utilized for hands-on, inquiry based learning activities.
CASE is an instructional system that is changing the culture of agriculture programs in the United States through intense teacher professional development; inquiry-based, student-focused lessons; assessment; and certification. CASE equips teachers to elevate student experiences in the agriculture classroom, and prepares students for success in college and careers emphasizing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
In 2009, schools began implementing CASE into their programs. More than 2,000 teachers from 45 states, plus the Virgin Islands, hold close to 3,000 certifications and use them each day in their agriculture classrooms.
During the CASE Institutes, Taylor spent a total of 172 hours working through nearly every lesson in the year-long curriculum and learning how to deliver lessons in an inquiry-based way that will shift focus in the classroom from teacher-led to student-directed.