SAE’S are one of the most important parts of an Ag teacher’s
job description, and in order to meet or exceed SAE advisors have to know more
about them and be able to help students understand the point of an SAE. This is
a list of just a few categories and what they mean to me.
Animal Systems in my opinion is the easiest SAE to get students
involved in, because it normally deals with a livestock projects. I excelled in
this as a high school student due to the fact I love animals, and love
independent recognition. Raising a pen of commercial show steers for the
Houston Livestock show. Taking a pen of show steers will teach them how to be
responsible, how to take care of their investment, and how to keep detailed and
adequate records of rate of gain and all expenses. Showing will also give
students a chance to meet college professors as well as earn money to pay for
college, which how I got my initial scholarship. The animal system SAE will
help students get a better understanding of what production Agriculture really
is, and help students learn not only what to feed, but how much to feed.
Biotechnology is another type of SAE that would benefit the
student the most. A student could do research on the affect of pesticides on
native grasses. This experiment could be done in a controlled environment you
break up a backyard in to small sections and use different pesticides on each
set of plants and determine what it does to harm or hinder plant growth. Student
could use a public forum to discuss his findings as well show off his research.
This SAE would be pretty hard to make a profit though and could be both
expensive and time consuming.
Leadership and Business skills are also very important,
because what students learn with this SAE will help them find a career after
high school. this SAE will benefit every student you will have come through
your program, the student who like to do events like public speaking will
really like SAE’S that help them perfect their craft. The advisor over these
students can teach professional speech as a class if he or she has taken 6 or
more hours of speech in college.
Environmental Service System is a very important SAE for
students who love to be outside or outdoors. Students could use community
improvement as their choice for this SAE; they could adopt a street and keep it
clean and trash free or plant trees and clean up parks. This could also help my
students get in to the entrepreneurship type jobs, for instance lawn service,
or installing sprinklers. I like this type of SAE because it can help students
get a sense of pride in their community.
Food products and processing is a SAE that has a lot of
possible places that a student can use no matter what area you live in.
Students can intern at slaughter houses, or work at fast food places to get a
better understanding of not only how much safety is involved food service, but
how to deal with customers. This will also help students learn different laws
and rules and regulation that deal with any type of food for people or animals.
Students can also keep records on this SAE by pay checks in some cases.
Natural Resource Management is one of my favorite SA,
because I see it as giving back to nature. I could use this to find one of my
students a volunteer job at a wildlife refuge, or a rehab center. All of the
placement ideas I found would teach students to be responsible and give them a
better appreciation of nature. Can also teach my students to better understand
and respect wild animals.
Plant Systems are gaining in popularity these days, with
many students living in suburban areas now. You grow vegetables to sell or if
you live in a rural area you can cut and grow hay to sell. Students could also
turn this SAE into an entrepreneurship or community service easily depending on
what aspect they decide to choose to explore. This will help all students learn
more about plants, and learn to deal with not only customers, but employers and
help students find a job with plants.
I would use the last SAE Power, structural, and Technical systems, for my students who like to do wood work type jobs. I would let my student’s build things like saddle racks, bird house, or dog houses and sell them on craigslist on other places, that you could sell stuff to. I feel that this would help my students make money, but I would also have to help my students and keep them safe from anyone who might be trying to harm them, wood skills and metal fabrication are valuable skills that help a student make money to pay for college or turn in to a career.
I would use the last SAE Power, structural, and Technical systems, for my students who like to do wood work type jobs. I would let my student’s build things like saddle racks, bird house, or dog houses and sell them on craigslist on other places, that you could sell stuff to. I feel that this would help my students make money, but I would also have to help my students and keep them safe from anyone who might be trying to harm them, wood skills and metal fabrication are valuable skills that help a student make money to pay for college or turn in to a career.
There are
hundreds of SAE’S some of the SAE’S can be used for multiple sections. The national
FFA Website has a link for each of the different SAE types and I found a link
for internships on the USDA website.
