Grant to provide training for teachers in agricultural technology

Classroom teachers will be better prepared to teach agricultural technology, thanks to a $500,000 grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture to the Diesel and Heavy Equipment program at Pitt State.

"This funding will enable educators from all over the nation to come to Pitt State and get instruction," said Professor Tim Dell, a specialist in such technology.

For the next four years, Dell will offer three workshops each summer. Each workshop will accommodate 12 participants.

The majority of the grant will pay for workshop fees and an $800 travel allowance per teacher, while the remainder will cover the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment to be used in the training.

Such instruction is necessary, Dell noted, because of the leaps and bounds in the mobile hydraulic industry - the large equipment farmers now use to plant and harvest.

"The mobile hydraulic industry is permeated with confounding terminology and very challenging technologies," he said.

Teachers will learn hydraulics, advanced hydraulics, and powertrains -- all mobile equipment vital to the agricultural industry.

Dell, who is considered an expert in this area, has attending trainings in Canada and Germany and authored two textbooks; he is working on a third.

He created his own custom lab experiences that workshop participants will use, and participants will use his textbooks.

Participants also will be able to record their own videos while they're on campus to aid in their instruction back home and will leave armed with all they need to relay to their students what could otherwise be a difficult subject.

"Most folks struggle with this technology," Dell said. "That's why we got this grant - so they can understand these systems."

The workshops are for K-14 agricultural educators who teach agricultural equipment.

Pittsburg State is one of only 15 entities in the U.S. to receive the grant.

"Not too many schools have what we do," Dell said of Pitt State's Diesel and Heavy Equipment program, which is part of the School of Automotive and Engineering Technology. "They'll be able to see and do things that they would not otherwise be able to experience."

This is the second such grant he has received to educate teachers so that they in turn can educate their students.

"These two grants have made a generational change to the hydraulic trainers in our program, and a major leap forward in educating the agricultural industry," he said. "We can really be proud of this."

Those interested in registering can contact Dell directly; an application will be available later this month.

Learn more about the Diesel and Heavy Equipment program at Pitt State

USDA NIFA Funding

This work is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

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