The Hanover-Caroline Soil and Water Conservation District recently announced that Kendall Rogers, who serves as the agricultural teacher and Future Farmers of America (FFA) sponsor at Caroline Middle School, was recently named the Conservation Teacher of the Year, for the category of secondary (grades 6-12) educators.
In the classroom, Rogers reaches students daily with information about natural resources and their conservation and preservation. According to a news release, she has worked to develop a curriculum that exposes her students to traditional “textbook” information combined with hands-on experiences. Her infectious enthusiasm for her subject area and students makes her classes some of the most popular in the school.
Outside of the classroom, Rogers has cultivated the largest FFA chapter that Caroline County Public Schools has seen. In FFA, students have the opportunity to expand upon what they’ve learned in the classroom by participating in academic and skills-based competitions while continuing to develop their knowledge of natural resources.
Students in FFA also develop “soft” skills like public speaking, when they participate in activities like meeting with officials at the Virginia State Capitol and reading to elementary school students during Agriculture Literacy Week.
Rogers’ involvement with her community in Caroline County was noted by the Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation District’s Education Committee, in addition to her broad reach of students through her service on the Caroline County Public Schools Environmental Literacy Plan Steering Committee.
