News: Teacher stories

Mike Liston of Tolles Career and Technical Center left last summer’s Feed the World workshop armed with useful knowledge and lots of great activities to use with his science students! Liston used the Soil and Sustainability activities with his Environmental Management and Environmental Science students. After discussing soil texture and particle size, students determined soil type using the soil triangle. Liston said, “I had students practice with the soil tria…

Ashley Thompson, agriculture instructor at Ohio Hi-Point Career Center, attended the two-day Feed the World workshop last summer. She used several of the soil lessons this year in her Greenhouse & Nursery Management class. Thompson said, “I liked the lessons because they touched on material that I had taught before, but helped me to clarify points with meaningful connections to my students.” Her students enjoyed the lesson about proper amounts …

As a review of Punnett squares for the state science test, Katie Skuldt’s 8th grade students recently did the activity about Punnett Squares from the Feed the World lessons. Skuldt, who teaches 7th and 8th grade science at Heritage Middle School, said, “The activity was flawless, and the kids found it very helpful. I think my students will be well-prepared for any questions about Punnett squares on the test!” Skuldt …

Laura Ringler is in her eighth year in the classroom. She teaches Ag Business, Food Science, Animal and Plant Science Agriculture, and Foods and Natural Resources at Plymouth High School. Her favorite part of teaching is watching students mature and retain information, and seeing former students take their places as productive members of society. Are you involved in other ag or science-related school activities? I am our school’s FFA adviser. …

Donna Meller is a science instructor at Pettisville High School, teaching 8th grade science, chemistry, physics, anatomy & physiology, environmental science and a high school research class. Other roles include Science Fair Director, STEM Club co-coordinator, Pettisville FFA Alumni member, and Henry County Junior Fair Board Advisor for the Horse Department. In addition, she provides oversight for all science research projects at the high school and works closely with the …

Rachel Sanders teaches Bioresearch at Global Impact STEM Academy. She’s been teaching for 18 years, and her favorite part of teaching is exploring new ideas and experiments with students. She is co-advisory of the school’s FFA team, coordinator of the Clark County Science Fair, and hosts a 4H STEM summer camp. What is the benefit of FTW resources? I highly recommend the FTW pd events to educators because of the hands-on …

Jeremy Grove is in his fifth year of teaching AFNR, Animal and Plant Sciences, and Agronomic Systems at East Technical High School in Cleveland. He also advises the FFA chapter at his school. He particularly enjoys the moment when students who were in total confusion and disbelief finally understand a concept! Why would you recommend the FTW resources to other educators? The best thing about FTW is the network of …

Students in Jeff Jostpille’s Fort Jennings Environmental Science class have recently been studying alternative energy sources, researching and experimenting with wind power, solar power, and hydrogen fuel cell power. They then turned their attention to fuels produced from biomass. Two such fuels include biodiesel and ethanol. Working with Chemistry teacher Heather Harmon, the two classes combined their knowledge to successfully create ethanol and biodiesel. The Fort Jennings students prepared 4 different …