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Improved Understanding of Ag Marketing Concepts in the Classroom through Ag Teacher Workshops

Jessica Kelton, William Kelley, Adam Rabinowitz, Wendiam Sawadgo, and Max Runge

Summary

Agriculture is an important industry for the state of Alabama, contributing more than $70 billion to the state’s economy annually. Given the diversity and relevancy of the agricultural industry, Alabama’s public school system has long maintained a strong agricultural training program for secondary students. Historically, Extension personnel with a production focus have been involved with high school students and teachers within agri-tech programs, with limited instruction provided from economic-focused Extension personnel. In 2020, however, the state Board of Education launched a revised program to broaden ag technical curriculum to include specific student training for ag marketing and management, in addition to traditional agronomic education. To facilitate the implementation of marketing specific curriculum, Extension personnel developed a training workshop for teachers, designed to build an understanding of marketing concepts and teaching methods suitable for a classroom setting. Training participants reported increased understanding of marketing concepts, as well as a high probability of using course material in classroom instruction. Future trainings are expected and will also focus on activity-based training to reinforce marketing concepts. Ultimately, through trainings such as this, Extension’s ag economics personnel will continue to foster a working relationship with secondary school agricultural teachers, ensuring exposure of relevant economic principles to high school students. 

Details

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