The top three Agricultural Education Career Development Event competitors await their final placings on stage.
The Montana Ag Expo is an annual statewide competition that hosts hundreds of different events for FFA members to compete in. A newly introduced career development event (CDE) is agricultural education, which is hosted on Montana State University’s (MSU) campus. Although the event is still new, the participants are competitive and fierce.
For two years, Conrad FFA has placed first in the agricultural education CDE. Jordan Leach placed first in the 2023-24 year, and Lily Bingaman placed first in the 2024-25 year. This CDE encourages members to pursue their dream of becoming an agricultural education teacher, especially in rural places.
The event’s rubric evaluates the execution of the presentation and lesson plan. The goal is for competitors to learn about a specific topic and teach it to a “class” of FFA members. For example, a member taught the “class” about the FFA emblem last year, then assessed them on their ability to create an emblem.
Through competing, members can test the waters and decide if they want to become an agricultural education teacher.
“The CDE is creating some excitement for teaching in students by allowing them to see some of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into teaching an agriculture course,” says Conrad FFA advisor Devin McClayland. “Using the skills gained and lessons learned, they will be miles ahead when entering an agricultural education post-secondary program.”
This competition has created a new world for FFA members to learn about what their advisors do every day and find their passion for teaching in rural areas.
