Dylan Phillips from the Area I Federation FFA in Louisiana, left, and Ubaldo Lopez from the Epps FFA Chapter in Louisiana, right, pose at the AgExplorer booth at the National FFA Expo on Oct. 25.
INDIANAPOLIS – Attendees of the 90th National FFA Convention & Expo can interact with AgExplorer, the National FFA Organization and Discovery Education’s agricultural career resource, at the expo this week.
FFA Educational Team Leader Ambra Tennery said visitors can interact with AgExplorer in a few different ways at the expo. “It’s all about those careers, getting them to think forward and think about the future ahead.”
The exhibition booth is surrounded by mounted tablets where FFA members can take the Career Finder quiz, which measures the user’s strengths and interests to give them four potential career options they can explore.
After completing the quiz, members get a Connect Four card. The card works like bingo: Members visit other exhibitors who have certain traits, like “Find a person who uses math every day for their job,” and take a picture with them, then check off the corresponding box. Get four in a row and receive an AgExplorer T-shirt from the booth’s prize table.
AgExplorer also gives students the opportunity to learn about agricultural innovation in action by featuring Innovation Stations. Each Innovation Station booth at the expo is marked by a red arrow overhead. If members visit five Innovation Station areas, they can earn an Ag Innovator pin and can enter a drawing for a chance to win tech prizes.
Tennery said anyone can use AgExplorer online, from elementary school students to college-age adults.
“Teachers are using it just to expose [their students] to careers in agriculture, because a lot of times when a student hears ‘What careers are there in agriculture?’, they’ll list off a vet, rancher or a farmer, which are very important careers,” Tennery said. “However, there are a plethora of others, and that’s what we want to expose them to by utilizing AgExplorer.”
The AgExplorer booth can be found at the expo in exhibitor booth #1056 today until 5 p.m., Thursday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Dene Dryden is a sophomore at Kansas State University studying creative writing. An alumna of the Palco FFA Chapter in Kansas, she is serving as a reporter for the 90th National FFA Convention & Expo Newsroom Crew.
