Congratulations to our Teacher Leader Katrina Swinehart!

Katrina Swinehart, a GrowNextGen teacher leader, was recently selected as one of DuPont Pioneer’s Agriscience Teachers of the Year. The path to this award began in December, as 315 teachers applied to be considered for this competitive opportunity. The applications go through several rounds of evaluation by the National Association of Agricultural Educators, with 50 teachers ultimately chosen for this honor.

As an Agriscience Teacher of the Year, she attended an intense one-week training at DuPont’s Chesapeake Farms in Chesterton, Maryland where the teacher winners learn about inquiry-based learning strategies and prepare workshops that will be presented to teachers at various national and state events. Swinehart said, “I learned dozens of new strategies to use inquiry in my classroom. We also learned literacy strategies to use seamlessly with our class content.”

Swinehart began teaching high school AgriScience courses in June 2013. She currently teaches at Cedarville High School and Greeneview High School for the Greene County Career Center.

“During high school, I was heavily involved with the Agricultural Science and FFA programs at my high school,” Swinehart said. “My ag teachers made an impact on my community and fellow students and I decided that’s what I wanted to spend my career doing too.”