Illinois Leadership Council for Agricultural Education
Promote education in and about agriculture.
Address the changing needs of agricultural education
to strengthen its viability and competitiveness to serve industry.
Develop investment opportunities involving human and financial capital
for the benefit of all groups having interest in agricultural education.
January 26, 2018
Hilton Garden Inn, Champaign, Illinois in conjunction with the Illinois FFA Alumni Conference
In attendance:
To secure the future of agriculture in Illinois through the continual advancement of quality agriculture education
Illinois Leadership Council for Agricultural Education
Promote education in and about agriculture.
Address the changing needs of agricultural education
to strengthen its viability and competitiveness to serve industry.
Develop investment opportunities involving human and financial capital
for the benefit of all groups having interest in agricultural education.
Luke Allen
Mindy Bunselmeyer
Jake Butcher
Dave Cattron
Chad Colby
Megan Coy
Rich DeSchepper
Al Dietz
Dean Dittmar
Jon Furr
Warren Graeff
Doug Hanson
Alison Jefferson
Bill Johnson
Karen Jones
Debra Korte
Kevin Larsen
Vern McGinnis
Tammy Miller
Aimee Poskin
Becky Ropp
Karen Schieler
Jess Smithers
Jennifer Waters
To secure the future of agriculture in Illinois through the continual advancement of quality agriculture education
Illinois Leadership Council for Agricultural Education
Promote education in and about agriculture.
Address the changing needs of agricultural education
to strengthen its viability and competitiveness to serve industry.
Develop investment opportunities involving human and financial capital
for the benefit of all groups having interest in agricultural education.
To secure the future of agriculture in Illinois through the continual advancement of quality agriculture education
Illinois Leadership Council for Agricultural Education
Promote education in and about agriculture.
Address the changing needs of agricultural education
to strengthen its viability and competitiveness to serve industry.
Develop investment opportunities involving human and financial capital
for the benefit of all groups having interest in agricultural education.
Via phone:
Chris Kendall
Kaitlin Weitekamp
To secure the future of agriculture in Illinois through the continual advancement of quality agriculture education
Illinois Leadership Council for Agricultural Education
Promote education in and about agriculture.
Address the changing needs of agricultural education
to strengthen its viability and competitiveness to serve industry.
Develop investment opportunities involving human and financial capital
for the benefit of all groups having interest in agricultural education.
Chairman Hanson called the meeting to order at 12:07 p.m.
Introductions were made.
Jon Furr gave a presentation about competency mapping for AFNR College and Career Pathway Endorsements, which is part of the Post Secondary and Workforce Readiness Act. This provides for the class of 2020 to graduate with an endorsement on their high school diploma stating they have had career exploration and/or training at a satisfactory level.
The program has four components:
- Individualized plan for each students interests and goals.
- Student must complete two or more years of career focused coursework.
- Participation in professional learning.
- Achieve academic success.
The program emphasizes both coursework and real-world learning experiences. There are seven areas, one of which is Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (AFNR) plus an interdisciplinary area that can include two or more of the other areas if a student changes his or her mind mid-stream.
ILCAE was asked to:
- Endorse the Endorsements efforts.
- Help establish membership on the steering committee.
- Identify candidates for HR interviews.
- Disseminate the survey.
- Publicize the competencies.
Becky Ropp and all FCAE staff volunteered to be on a committee to work with this program and bring more information back to ILCAE at a future meeting.
The minutes from the last meeting were reviewed and approved by Warren Graeff, seconded by Bill Johnson.
Advocacy funding: Bill Johnson
A new informational sheet has been created with a listing of all current Ag Ed 365 donors listed on the back. It seems that there will not be enough pin sales alone to pay for the remainder of the current contract (through June 2018). A new strategy will be to target teachers who have received the Three Circles grant and ask them for $1/day or $365 total, with credit given if they’ve already purchased a pin. If that effort is successful there should be enough money to pay through June. However, teachers have not yet received their grant money so it was noted that the ask should come after that has occurred. There were 149 teachers who applied for the grant.
It was cautioned that we need to be careful not to over ask from current supporters. Mindy Bunselmeyer will work with her student workers to create a list of former officers and award winners to target. Communication will also go out to Alumni chapters throughout the state asking for their support.
Social media was discussed as a way to increase engagement in the fundraising efforts. Donors may be able to choose a day to be highlighted or otherwise featured on social media about why they choose to give to FFA. There will be guidelines established for how dates can be selected.
Legislative update: Jake Butcher
The upcoming primary election on March 20 will likely bring big changes in Springfield and beyond. The Ag Ed Shortage task force is still meeting regularly. The LEAP program which matches legislators with FFA chapters is going well. One new bill they are watching would provide tax incentives for money earned during an internship.
Ag Legislative Day will be April 11. We need volunteers that day to represent ILCAE and ICAE in Springfield, as well as the night before at the student legislative workshop.
Al Dietz and Dave Cattron volunteered to attend. Jess Smithers will be sending out more details to all ILCAE members.
Teacher shortage task force committee - Bill Johnson, Debra Korte, Jess Smithers
ISBE plans to increase cut scores for teacher testing but ag ed already has nearly a 100 percent success rate. Changing the scoring would make it about an 80 percent success rate.
Currently for an individual to receive provisional licensing, they must document 2,000 hours in each category they wish to teach (mechanics, horticulture, business, etc..) where a regularly licensed teacher only needs 2,000 hours total. Some provisional licensed teachers who are getting master’s degrees in ag edare still being required to student teach, which would take them out of their current classroom. The committee is recommending that three years of successful classroom teaching should waive the student teaching requirement.
Mentoring/Job Shadow program: Karen Jones
To promote stronger relationships between sponsor businesses and FFA members, this program would set up a method for students/teams that win CDE’s and proficiency awards to connect with sponsoring businesses for a day-long job shadow/tour opportunity. ILCAE being the connection between industry and education would help facilitate and find businesses interested in sponsoring activities.
Jess Smithers, Karen Jones, and Jennifer Waters will set up a meeting with Mindy Bunselmeyer to determine the best way to move forward.
Other business:
Tammy Miller reported one student taking advantage of dual credit online classes at Joliet Jr. College.
There were some issues with students not having time to complete the online dual credit classes in addition to regular course work. The pilot started with 25 students statewide and six finished the coursework. Many schools did not allow students to do the online work during the day and it was a challenge for them to find time outside of school.
Dean Dittmar met with Cindy Hamelin, director of the Illinois Virtual School. They have contacts with schools and students throughout the state, with the largest number being in northeastern Illinois. All their courses are accredited and they have a good structure already in place. Dean will continue to work with her to see about including an Ag 101 class to their curriculum. The IVS currently costs $225/student/semester.
No potential new member names were brought forward. There’s an opportunity to place some people on Jon Furr’s Endorsements committee who would also be great potential ILCAE members.
FCAE staff reported on new ag programs throughout the state.
Becky Ropp updated the group on the relationship being built with ISBE. She feels that it’s a very good one and will lead to positive things for ag ed.
The next ILCAE meeting will be March 20 at Central Illinois Ag in Atlanta.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:09 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Jones, ILCAE Secretary
To secure the future of agriculture in Illinois through the continual advancement of quality agriculture education