Raised on a farm near West Bend, Iowa, Aaron took to writing and public speaking at an early age. He graduated from UNI with degrees in communications, public relations and journalism. While at UNI, Aaron served as Executive Editor of the Northern Iowan (twice-weekly campus newspaper) and Vice President of the Northern Iowa Student Government. Upon earning his degree from UNI, Aaron served as copy editor at Spokesman Press, Inc. Grundy Center, Iowa, before joining the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation’s communications team in West Des Moines in 1994. In 2010, he was named Director of Industry Relations for the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) in Ankeny, Iowa. Today, Aaron serves as ISA’s Sr. Director of Information, Education and Industry Relations and represents Iowa agriculture as a board member of the Animal Ag Alliance Board based in Arlington, VA. Aaron is also a board member of the Public Relations Society of America-Iowa Chapter and Waukee Rotary. He’s a member of the St. Francis of Assisi Knights of Columbus (West Des Moines) and volunteers at the Walnut Creek Recreational Baseball League of Clive and Waukee. As an agricultural communicator and someone passionate about leadership and success, Aaron has delivered hundreds of presentations to organizations and groups of all sizes and occasions.
Vernier - Karen VanDeWalle and Jamie Christiansen will be showcasing the Vernier Go Direct sensors that connect to computers, Chromebooks, LabQuest 3, tablets, or mobile devices.
Tuesday June 29, 2021 11:00am - 11:50am CDT
EC 107FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny, Iowa 50023 USA
Kreg Tools – Mike Maruziak and his team has a project in mind and has a team of Kreg team members lined up to help as needed, this is going to be a great experience for participants.
Tuesday June 29, 2021 11:00am - 11:50am CDT
EC 108/109FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny, Iowa 50023 USA
USDA Grant Cohort - “SAE For ALL: Developing Teacher Resources and Training to Build Student Foundational Skills”. The purpose of this project is to train secondary agricultural education instructors in how to best teach foundational skills like record keeping, personal finance, and agricultural business to be applied with students and their supervised agricultural experience (SAE) programs. These efforts align with work-based learning which is an important topic that is covered by Future Ready Iowa, STEM, and Perkins V. This grant will pay for your instructors’ registration, travel, lodging and meals while in attendance at grant activities.
Tuesday June 29, 2021 11:00am - 11:50am CDT
EC 114/115FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny, Iowa 50023 USA
Ag Broadcasting CDE – Andy Petersen the morning Farm News Anchor at WHO-AM and co-host of the Big Show will offer insights on how to prepare your students for the Ag Broadcasting CDE. Each participation will walk away with a practice guide.
Tuesday June 29, 2021 11:00am - 11:50am CDT
EC 112/113FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny, Iowa 50023 USA
Nursery/Landscaping CDE – Adam Crews from Louisa-Muscatine will be conducting a hands-on workshop which will help you train your students for the Equipment Safety & Operation or Team Skills Challenge part of the CDE.
Tuesday June 29, 2021 1:40pm - 2:35pm CDT
EC 107FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny, Iowa 50023 USA
Floriculture CDE – Louise Fleming from Vinton will be conducting a hands-on workshop which will help you train your students for the Floral Design/Corsage part of the CDE.
Tuesday June 29, 2021 1:40pm - 2:35pm CDT
EC 112/113FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny, Iowa 50023 USA
Soils Evaluation CDE – Amber Anderson from Iowa State University will be conducting and interactive workshop which will help you train your students for the this CDE using the updated Soil Judging in Iowa Handbook and newly developed computer simulations.
Tuesday June 29, 2021 1:40pm - 2:35pm CDT
EC 114/115FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny, Iowa 50023 USA
Ag Mechanics CDE – Jim Green from St. Ansgar and Jon Davis from Gilbert will be conducting a hands-on workshop which will help you prepare your students for the skill areas of Land Measurement/Surveying and Electrical Wiring of outlets/switches.
Tuesday June 29, 2021 1:40pm - 2:35pm CDT
EC 108/109FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny, Iowa 50023 USA
Nursery/Landscaping CDE – Adam Crews from Louisa-Muscatine will be conducting a hands-on workshop which will help you train your students for the Equipment Safety & Operation or Team Skills Challenge part of the CDE.
Tuesday June 29, 2021 2:55pm - 3:50pm CDT
EC 107FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny, Iowa 50023 USA
Soils Evaluation CDE – Amber Anderson from Iowa State University will be conducting and interactive workshop which will help you train your students for the this CDE using the updated Soil Judging in Iowa Handbook and newly developed computer simulations.
Tuesday June 29, 2021 2:55pm - 3:50pm CDT
EC 114/115FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny, Iowa 50023 USA
Ag Mechanics CDE – Jim Green from St. Ansgar and Jon Davis from Gilbert will be conducting a hands-on workshop which will help you prepare your students for the skill areas of Land Measurement/Surveying and Electrical Wiring of outlets/switches.
Tuesday June 29, 2021 2:55pm - 3:50pm CDT
EC 108/109FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny, Iowa 50023 USA
Floriculture CDE – Louise Fleming from Vinton will be conducting a hands-on workshop which will help you train your students for the Floral Design/Corsage part of the CDE.
Tuesday June 29, 2021 2:55pm - 3:50pm CDT
EC 112/113FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny, Iowa 50023 USA
USDA Grant Cohort - “SAE For ALL: Developing Teacher Resources and Training to Build Student Foundational Skills”. The purpose of this project is to train secondary agricultural education instructors in how to best teach foundational skills like record keeping, personal finance, and agricultural business to be applied with students and their supervised agricultural experience (SAE) programs. These efforts align with work-based learning which is an important topic that is covered by Future Ready Iowa, STEM, and Perkins V. This grant will pay for your instructors’ registration, travel, lodging and meals while in attendance at grant activities.
Wednesday June 30, 2021 11:05am - 11:30am CDT
EC 114/115FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny, Iowa 50023 USA
Farm Credit Services Grant Program – Teresa Mardesen from FCS will provide ideas suggestions to completing a successful grant application that agricultural educators can complete used to purchase classroom supplies, develop Student SAEs and/or complete FFA
Wednesday June 30, 2021 11:05am - 11:30am CDT
EC 108/109FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny, Iowa 50023 USA
National FFA Resources – Bridget Mahoney from Lone Tree and Ben Meyer from NFFA will share Educator Resources that are available to agricultural educators through the website.
Wednesday June 30, 2021 11:05am - 11:30am CDT
EC 112/113FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny, Iowa 50023 USA
USDA Grant Cohort - “SAE For ALL: Developing Teacher Resources and Training to Build Student Foundational Skills”. The purpose of this project is to train secondary agricultural education instructors in how to best teach foundational skills like record keeping, personal finance, and agricultural business to be applied with students and their supervised agricultural experience (SAE) programs. These efforts align with work-based learning which is an important topic that is covered by Future Ready Iowa, STEM, and Perkins V. This grant will pay for your instructors’ registration, travel, lodging and meals while in attendance at grant activities.
Wednesday June 30, 2021 1:00pm - 4:00pm CDT
EC Room 107FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny, Iowa 50023 USA
Cherry Glen Learning Farm - Ray Meylor and the Cherry Glen Learning Farm will host instructors for the afternoon engaging colleagues in a wide variety of land laboratory learning opportunities. Be prepared to pick up new ideas to implement as part of your future outdoor learning lab plans!
Wednesday June 30, 2021 1:00pm - 4:00pm CDT
Cherry Glen Learning Farm3989 NW 94th Ave, Polk City, IA 50226 USA
