During out state convention ag teachers presented a similar recruitment workshop as well. We encouraged teachers to send their best sophomores and juniors to the workshop regardless of their current professional interests.
We followed the theme "Do what you love, love what you do" and based the workshop on what we called the "Top Three Reasons to be an Ag Teacher." We began by having every person draw out their favorite story about their ag teacher and then share their tales with others. We then went into our "top three reasons":
- Be an Influence in the Agriculture Industry
- Make a Difference for Someone
- Have Fun!
We based an activity or included a personal example on each keypoint. The students enjoyed the workshop and we left with more than a few who were considering ag education as an option for them that hadn't considered it before hand.
These are just some ideas and of course there are many reasons you could go into. I think the real key to this is not so much as to try to sell them on the idea but rather just plant it!
