The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) ag sector board is leading a new effort to increase the number of classes taught in high school to foster greater awareness of the equipment manufacturing industry – as well as spark enthusiasm for it in the next generation of workers.
With help from the Equipment Dealers Association (EDA), the two organizations have awarded 32 educators from 15 states partial scholarships for certification in equipment courses starting this summer. The courses, offered through the Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE), will qualify teachers to begin teaching the courses this coming fall and reaching over 2200 students in the 2018-2019 school year.
“By leading a teacher scholarship program in partnership with Equipment Dealers Association, we have a great opportunity to help make students more aware of and excited about the opportunities on the equipment side of the Ag industry,” says Curt Blades, AEM’s senior vice president of Ag Services. “AEM is fully committed to workforce development and we are proud to help provide 32 teachers the training that will help them fully engage their students in the opportunities available in agriculture.”
Since the launch of the CASE curriculum, more than 2,500 teachers have achieved certification to teach its classes. However, only about 90 of those certifications are in equipment-specific courses. AEM and EDA say they hope to increase that number through this scholarship program.
“Since its inception, EDA’s Foundation, the Equipment Dealers Foundation, has provided scholarships for students looking to begin or further a career in Ag,” says Joe Dykes, VP of industry relations for EDA.
“Now we are thrilled for the opportunity to partner with AEM and CASE to promote the value of an agricultural education from the other side of the classroom. Sponsoring scholarships for teachers is consistent with one of the Foundation’s most important goals, workforce development. The specific programs we’re sponsoring are aimed at closing the skills gap, or the gap between supply and demand for equipment technicians – a major issue in our industry right now. We believe working together to get people excited to teach and learn about agriculture is the best way to grow and sustain interest in our industry.”
