Kristen Vingoe

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Portfolio Section 1: Who am I?

Educational Profile

My name is Kristen Vingoe and I attended Bellaire High School, located

in the city of Bellaire, located inside of Houston, the largest city in Texas.

During my senior year of high school, there were around 3,500 students

attending Bellaire High School, and 778 in my graduating class. I made fairly

good grades, mainly As and Bs, and truly enjoyed learning, and being able

to apply what I had learned. I enjoyed classes such as math, English, history,

and government, and the only course that I didnt ever fully come to like

were science courses such as chemistry and physics. Aside from core

classes, any class where agriculture was the main topic, such as advanced

animal science or wildlife and fisheries, I excelled at and used the objectives

learned to further my knowledge in agriculture. I graduated in the 49th

percentile of my class, with a 3.79 GPA. I also took both the standardized

tests of the SAT, where I scored a 1450 composite score, and a 24 on the ACT

test. What I believe truly set me apart from other students in my graduating

class was my involvement with the Bellaire FFA, as well as the awards,

competitions and scholarships that I received and took part in during my

time in high school. Looking at Bellaire, an urban school with a large

population of around 3,500 students, surprisingly, only 75 students at most

were members of the schools FFA chapter. Students at Bellaire often took

part in extracurricular activities such as athletics like baseball and softball, or

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Portfolio Section 1: Who am I?

activities such as dance and theatre, and rarely were immersed in the FFA

organization, which is what I think truly made me stand out in my high

school. The FFA never gained or amassed as much respect or

acknowledgement from our school, due to athletics and academics being the

main focus, but when people in the community heard or looked into FFA, they

knew exactly who we were and what our purpose was! I appreciate that even

though the school and sometimes the community didnt acknowledge the

FFA program and jump at the chance to give us resources or support, they

were still at least informed and made aware of us by the members, as well as

by my FFA advisors, that we were an influential program and that we

deserved respect and attention, just as any other extracurricular. Although

teachers often did not understand why the FFA kids would be gone for days

at a time, or even weeks, they quickly noticed the awards and mentions that

the program received increasingly during my time in the FFA at Bellaire.

In a face-to-face interview with one of my high school math teachers,

who also happens to be one of my old neighbors, Mr. Adams, he recognized

that even though I would miss classes due to FFA responsibilities and events,

I was always very thorough in my work, and attempted and succeeded to

make up each and every assignment that I missed while I was away, as well

as re-learn the material or topics, and take advantage of any extra tutoring

or group learning that was offered. He also acknowledged that while I was a

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good test-taker, my true knowledge of any subject material came out when it

was time for group projects or presentations, and any assignments that

required thinking and thought to be displayed. I feel that this is an extremely

important topic because thinking is such an enriching tool, as opposed to just

getting wrong or right answers on a test. True learning and knowledge is

displayed by thought, and as I have learned, displaying my thinking skills

was an extreme quality that I possessed in high school.

I feel that the education that I have been rewarded and equipped with,

in high school, as well as in college, will play an extremely important part in

my career as a teacher. Although FFA students love to learn about agriculture

and FFA, it is also important that they are succeeding in their other classes,

in order to maintain eligibility for FFA events and competitions. I feel that

because I was able to balance out and accept that my other classes needed

to sometimes come first, in order to excel in FFA, will help me to promote and

persuade my students to stay on top of their schoolwork, whether they want

to or not! If I stress how I was able to take time out of my day to ensure that I

was doing well in my other subjects, like math and history, I will be able to

encourage my students to do the same. I hope that as a teacher, my

education will have equipped me with the tools that I can use to help my

students in their other classes as well. As a prospective agricultural science

teacher, I believe that it is important to keep my prior education in mind

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while still stressing agriculture and FFA, in order to have exemplary and

successful students in the agricultural science program.

Four of the classes that I would like to teach as an agricultural science

teacher:

- Principles of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

- Food Technology and Safety
- Horticultural Science
- Livestock Production

Two Lesson Plans from the Educational Excellence site that I would really like

to teach:

- Course title: Horticultural Science Lesson Title: What is Horticulture?

(Lesson 01A)

Lesson Title: What is Horticulture? (Lesson 01A)

TEKS Addressed in Lesson: 130.20 c (1)(a)

http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter130/index.html

I would like to teach this lesson in order to give an introduction to

Horticulture and what its functions and applications are in agriculture, as

well as the importance it plays in the industry and to the class as a whole.

- Course Title: Principles of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Lesson Title: Defining Fields of Agriculture (04A)

TEKS Addressed in Lesson:

130.1. (c)(4)(A)

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http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter130/ch130a.html

I would like to teach this lesson in order to give an understanding of the

possible career possibilities in the field of agriculture, food, and natural

resources, so that students can see the diverse career opportunities and

possibilities that they can be given by this industry.