ACING it with ACES

This past weekend was my first time at ACES! It was a good time to get to know more of my students on a more personal level as well. Not only was this the first weekend trip that I have taken with Bellwood-Antis since National FFA Convention, it was the first time that I haven't went home on the weekend...

Not having my weekly break at home, I thought that it would be a long 2 weeks... I was wrong, my weekend flew right by and it is already Thursday and I am sitting at school writing a blog that is 4 days late, whoops...

Here's a picture of me, singing Bon Jovi in
front of 100's of high school students who had
their snapchats out... Oh well, do it for the
laughs!

At 8 in the morning we piled 9 students into a van and headed for Harrisburg! I was excited to see the fun things that were planned for ACES. Once we got there, I was interested in what the teacher workshop was and come to find out, it was about GPS, GIS, and Drones... Not a typical workshop that you would expect Ag. teachers to be attending (drones). It was an interesting topic and I am curious to see how Ag. teachers across the state plan to utilize drones in the future.

After a wonderful dinner, it was time for teachers and students to sing along to the 80's music that this years ACES was themed around... Guess who got picked to sing, yeah, me. I wouldn't say that I am a bashful person, but I am not the type of person that voluntarily gets up in front of 100's of people to sing Bon Jovi... I put up a little bit of a fight, but a fellow Ag. teacher pressured me into it, so I could not deny! My partner, who was a student, did a great job and made the experience fun! You know the best part? I got to pick someone... Of course, I picked a fellow Penn State student teacher, Ms. Katie Andrews... I couldn't be the only embarrassed one out of the group!

After the singing, dancing, and laughing it was time for bed... the students had a curfew of 11 p.m. and since I was a "new teacher", I had the privilege of staying up and enforcing the rules. Overall, everyone was good, quiet, and in bed by 11 p.m.

After breakfast and morning session, it was finally time to go home. For a trip that was only a little over 24 hours, it sure felt longer, but at the same time, it went by fast!

I look forward to many more FFA weekend trips in my future!

Thanks,
Mike