The World Food Prize...Traveling as a Senior Intern with GTAN

Friday

Kicking off on Friday, October 14th, I flew to Des Moines, Iowa with the Global Teach Ag Network Facilitator Team to begin preparing for the World Food Prize Foundation Global Guides Conference. Our first interaction in Iowa was with a past Global Guide, Ernest Schiller. We spent the afternoon with him and talked about his work with Rebuild Nepal Education Foundation. This was a great opportunity to meet someone with so many wonderful experiences to share and advice to give!



Saturday 

Saturday was full of facilitation planning and flip chart making. I worked with Grace, my fellow senior intern and Allyson, a Grad student from Mississippi State to make over 120 flip charts as a way to track the sessions throughout the week. We made flip charts including essential questions, session goals, warm ups, and wrap ups to prepare for the sessions that began on Sunday. We also traveled to the Downtown Farmers market for lunch and enjoyed Pupusas from El Salvador. Next, I was able to take an Uber for the first time to meet Matt Eddy, the Iowa state FFA coordinator and a member of the second cohort of Global Guides, and his family for some BBQ! This was a great time networking and getting to know the rest of the Global Guides Facilitation Team.


Sunday 

On Sunday, we worked hard to finish preparing, as this was the day programing kicked off! After we were all finished with our preparations, we traveled with the Global Guides to the Hall of Laureates, where we began with Session 1! We were able to welcome this year's Laureate, Dr Cynthia Rosenzweig to the Hall of Laureates. Dr. Rosenzweig was able to address this year's Global Guides and even highlighted how important it was that educators were in the room. We wrapped up our evening with an official tour of the Hall of Laureates, highlighting achievements in Agriculture and the fight against world hunger, starting with the astonishing work of World Prize Founder Dr. Norman Borlaug, the father of the Green Revolution. 


Monday

Monday was our first full day of sessions! We got to spend so much time interacting with this year's Global Guides cohort, a dream team of 23 educators. This was day two of programming and was full of passion and development! The Global Guides explored the roles that educators play in addressing food security, they analyzed the world around them through the 17 SDGs, and ended the day by connecting the laureates with the program to showcase the potential of everyone in the room. It was amazing to serve these grateful educators as a DJ and flipchart artist!


Tuesday

Tuesday was Day 3 with the Global Guides and the of the program focused on networking with important players in agriculture! This was the first official day of World Food Prize 2022, so the Guides had the amazing opportunity to start the day by having breakfast with the laureates. Personally, I got the chance to talk to Rattan Lal, the 2020 Laureate. He was able to tell stories about how those that he mentored, are now my mentors! We finished the day by learning how to develop a plan to create impact and how to connect educators to food security organizations.


Wednesday

Wednesday, day four of programing, was centered around building resources for success! When we arrived bright and early at the convention center, we attended the keynote given by Ambassador Samantha Power. She works as an admin of US AID. The next part of my day was the one of the biggest highlights of my trip: Meeting Roger Thurow in person! I had helped to facilitate an event for GTAN with GLAGreads that he had led, and was honored that he remembered me. For those of you that don't know, Roger is an American author and journalist who focuses on global agriculture and food security. His current three books are Enough, The First 1000 Days, and The Last Hunger Season.



Thursday

Thursday, we had a very bittersweet day with the Global Guides. As the last day of programing for the group, I wish I would have had more time to network with such amazing educators. It was so great to witness the stakeholder roundtables, where the Guides shared their project proposals of how they are incorporating solutions to Food Security into their classroom, curriculum, or community. Afterward, we had the pleasure to be joined by this year's World Food Prize Laureate, Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig. Her wealth of knowledge was displayed as she answered the many questions that the group had about her work and mission related to Climate Change. Finally, we traveled to the Iowa State Capital and walked up the red carpet to watch Dr. Rosenzweig be recognized for her amazing work at the Laureate Award Ceremony!




Friday

Today, we spent our day with the GOALs participants and assisted them as they began learning how to write their required lesson plan. This was a great interaction that was fulfilling because I was able to share the knowledge that my senior AEE classes have taught me. 

Tomorrow, on Saturday, we are flying back to State College, Pennsylvania! Serving as a part of the World Food Prize Foundation Global Guides Team was such an great experience!

After reflecting, I have a list of major takeaways: 

  1. When traveling to Iowa...TAKE A COAT! 😂 Also, apparently when I say the word coat (which I said many times on the trip), it highlights my PA accent!
  2. Professional development doesn't always look the same, the right facilitators can make anything fun!
  3. It is always important to start any experience with expectations, and I really like the expectations that we had for the Global Guides this week: Be Present, Be Timely, and Be Courageous.
I cannot wait to take all that I learn and apply it to my very own classroom!

Here's to Part of the Whole Tree, 


Ms. Holtry



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