Ag Educators Attend 2024 CASE Institute at ATU

CASE Institute at ATU Summer 2024
Participants, instructors and facilitators for the 2024 CASE Institute at Arkansas Tech University were: (back row, left-to-right) Dr. Pamela Lester of St. Louis, Mo., Brandi Henderson of Nappanee, Ind., Jordan Mabry of Hartsville, Tenn., Andrew Efurd of Mansfield, Cassidy Hass of Cherry Valley, Dr. Bryan Rank of Arkansas Tech University; (front row, left-to-right) Patty Smith of Washington, N.J., Melanie Berndtson of Wellsboro, Pa., Abby Clay of Dardanelle, Nicki Dyer Litchford of Horatio, Renee Peugh of Meridian, Idaho, Sophie Cowgill of Rupert, Idaho, Shazel Muhammad of Camden, N.J., and Dr. Matthew Wilson of Arkansas Tech University.

Arkansas Tech University welcomed agricultural educators from across the United States June 24-28 for the 2024 Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) Institute.

Hosted by the ATU Department of Agriculture and Tourism, the CASE Institute engaged educators in a full academic year of labs and activities through the five days of in-person instruction and supplemental virtual instruction. As a result, the teachers will be prepared to deliver the agriculture science plant curriculum they covered to their students.

Dr. Bryan Rank, ATU associate professor of agricultural education and ATU agriculture program director, and Dr. Matthew Wilson, ATU associate professor of horticulture, oversaw and helped facilitate the institute.

Participants in the 2024 CASE Institute at ATU represented Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

Melanie Berndtson of Wellsboro, Pa., and Patty Smith of Washington, N.J., served as institute instructors.

According to information provided by the national organization, CASE Institute sessions “provide teachers important background related to the pedagogy used in CASE curricula and practice teaching various lessons to prepare them for classroom instruction.”

The CASE Institute at Arkansas Tech is sponsored by Farm Credit of Western Arkansas and the ATU Department of Agriculture and Tourism.

Learn more at www.atu.edu/agriculture.