One of Hillsborough county’s very own agriculture teachers has won a statewide and national 2008 EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING ABOUT AGRICULTURE AWARD.
Susan Carpenter of Mulrennan Middle School in Hillsborough County won for the middle school agri-science level. Ms. Carpenter is the only middle school teacher to receive this award. Two other Florida teachers will receive the award for elementary and high school.
“These teachers exemplify what Florida Ag in the Classroom is looking for in
teachers who strive to teach students about the important role the Florida agriculture industry plays in these students’ daily lives,” said Cara Martin, chairman of Florida Ag in the Classroom and assistant director of government and community affairs for Florida Farm Bureau.
Ms.Carpenter and an administrator or school board member will receive all expenses paid trips to the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference “The Most Bountiful Place on Earth” June 25-28 in Costa Mesa, Calif., and will be honored at Florida Ag in the Classroom’s State Teacher and Volunteer Workshop “Oceans of Learning: Florida Agriculture” June 12-14 at the Hutchinson Island Marriott in Stuart.
Ms. Carpenter, a teacher for 25 years and an agri-science teacher at Mulrennan Middle School in Tampa for two years, has used Florida Ag in the Classroom curricula, materials grant money and other programs to educate her students about the commodities produced in Florida and the issues farmers face who produce these commodities.
I am very proud of Ms. Carpenter. I have met students who have had Ms. Carpenter as a teacher and they are a testament to her love of teaching.
Read an article in the Tampa Tribune Brandon News.
18 comments:
Ms. Carpenter was instrumental in supporting my grandson Jordon in his FFA project. He is totally involved now and has made great friends. This program has helped to develop his self confidence and added another dimension to his develolpment into a responsible adult. In this age of computer games etc, the FFA program is invaluable to our children.
I will be gald to help keep this program going. I just went through something similar with the County trying to cut after school and summer programs for the Hillsborough County Parks. After several e mails from many parents and even petitions, it appears the programs are going to continue. If enough people stand up and speak out, this program can be saved. You can e amil your County Commissioners at www.hillsboroughcounty.org. If you would like their direct phone and fax numbers, I have them. Just send me an email and I will send them to you--
Sorry my e mail did not show up in my previous comment-if you are interested in the contact information for the County
Commissioners, my e mail address is keri2yogi@yahoo.com
I'm a current student of the Mulrennan middle school's agriculture /FFA program. i have been involved in agriculture for two, going on three, years and have loved every second of it. my teacher, Mrs. Carpenter has helped build many socials skills, by taking my FFA chapter on a few trips through the state. through FFA and Agriculture i have learned very valuable lessons and made great friends. recently my teacher has received an award that she deserves 100% of! also, many of you might already know that our program is on the verge of closing, so everyone, please help stop the closing by speaking up and and speaking to others about this problem! your help will be greatly appreciated by many, thanks!
I would like to extend my congratulations to Ms. Carpenter for representing Hillsborough County Public Schools in the vital field of agriculture. I am proud to be a part of a public school system with such great teachers. I feel a sense of gratification upon hearing about teachers in Hillsborough County who exemplify excellence by being recognized by one organization or another.
Congratulations!
To get rid the the FFA program would be wrong. Lots of these children that take FFA are withdrawn at first and than learn to have self confidence. I have seen this with my grandson who is in Ms. Carpenter's FFA class. There are so many children that can not go to college and are working or helping out on the family farm that need this type of class to encourge them to continue with the life dream of maybe being a farmer or a strawberry farmer or a pig farmer with out this type of guidence in the school who will help these children. This type of class FFA helps kids in school to stay out of trouble and work towards a goal to be the best that they can be at the time. It teaches them to be responsible for something in life, the FFA program is and should stay in the school system I can not believe that our school system would ever get rid of this program. If the FFA program is cut it will be because cuts need to be made in the system and these cuts are not in the right places for the schools. Cut higher pay school employees and leave the teachers alone they are our childrens future.
WWThe children need the FFA program it helps with everyday life, teaches them the importance of learning another means of dimension in the development of an individual.
I would like to express my congratulations to Ms Carpenter for winning this prestigious award. This FFA program along with Ms Carpenter's help and support of my grandson Jordan in his never ending quest for more Farming Knowledge has enabled him to raise and sell pigs at the last two county fairs. This FFA program has instilled great personal values and social skills that will last through out life. Since we are on the verge of losing many of our farmers, it would be a pity to lose such a valuable program involving so many students and familes
I just wanted to say how proud I am of my daughter, Morgan Belsley, and thank you to Ms. Carpenter for all the hard work she put into the ag class. Morgan has attended the FFA leadership conference and has come a long way in her confidence and ability to stand up and speak publicly. I never would have thought that an AGRICULTURE class would be the one to give her that ability. Maybe we need to stand back and look and realize that sometimes our children can learn a talent that they did not realize they had while having a fun, hands on experience. Morgan has become a great communicator and it is because of a class I thought would only teach her about plants and animals. We can connect with our children in so many ways that they may find interesting. Why limit ourselves in the ways we can reach our kids. Who knows what other child may become a leader or even a scientist because of an experience in a class that they thought was only supposed to be "fun"!!!! If Morgan decides one day to be a farmer, that would be so awesome too. What a great challenge we have ahead of us to feed our world. We should all thank God and our farmers for our food. Let's teach our kids that food doesn't come from Publix or Walmart!
I want to congratulate Ms Carpenter, as well. She worked at my school several years ago. Long before there were rubrics.... when one was guided by what "was right".
Kudos!
I would like to add my congratulations and sincere appreciation for Ms Carpenter's dedication and hard work that went into winning this award.
Our grandson Jordan has benefited enormously from this program, gaining knowledge and hands on experience. The advantage and rewards of this program to current and past students has been extremeiy valuable. It is my belief to disrupt this program by cancellation would be a grave mistake.
The past success of this program ensures that investing in our young is most important for present and future generations.
I would like to add my congratulations to Ms Carpenter for winning this award and for all her effort and support she has put forth to all her students. Ms Carpenter's guideance has given students life long skills. It would be such a shame to lose such an important program, it would be like saying "SORRY BUT WE DON'T NEED FARMERS ANYMORE" Please reconsider and keep this very important program.
I cannot imagine the School Board would even consider cutting Ms. Carpenters position. She must be doing something right to win such prestigious awards. How can anyone say that FFA is not important? FFA students have ETHICS. They are an elite bunch that will somday become our community leaders. Why is the school board trying to hurt a program that is obviously working for our children?
i am so glad a non-academic teacher has received well deserved recognition. I find it tragic that vocational/technical programs are in such precarious positions--they are lifesavers to our non-college students.
Hello I am a student of mulrennan FFA and the mulrennan Ag department. I found out about this desion on a weekend in April, I was very displeased with this news. Now when most people think of FFA they think that the program is preparing children to become farmers and, quite frankly thats what I thaught when I first joined FFA. I was mainly joining to work with animals, but then I found out that is only a slim part of what ag and FFA is. So many of my skills have inproved because of AG and FFA. When I Was in 4-h, I did not get nearly as much skills as I did in ag and ffa. It has made such a big difference in my life and taking it away is like taking a piece away from all of the ffa students.
the past two years i have been enrolled in agriculture/FFA at mulrennan. im going into the eighth grade and planned to do the same thing! but when it became time to fill out the elective sheets, i found this as a road block twards my enrollment! i ended up guessing and hoping i did it the right way. i dont think a great teacher deserves to be relocated at a different school bacause of this confusement! please help stop the program closing by posting on this blog and tell others to do so as well! thanks!!!
Cutting FFA would be a terrible shame for so many children, of all ages. This unique program is vital to children that might otherwise slip through the cracks. It provides a doorway to their future - giving them tools, confidence, education, and motivation to continue growing toward their goals.
I think it is a shame to close down the FFA Program. It gives the children a chance to learn and do things for the animals and it also gives them responsibilities that they may never have. They also get to meet new people and have a better respect for animals and the land. If you stop the program, in future years there may be no more farmers to feed the world. My nephew Jordan writes me on the computer every week telling me how exciting the class is and how much he has learned. I think you should really think about how much you and the children will be missing if the program closes.
Post a Comment