One of North Harford’s very own was one the 41 teachers across the county to receive the Teacher Turn Key award from the National Association for Agricultural Educators.

“Ms. Warner is a great teacher, she is straightforward and she makes things fun,” said freshman Alex Sheppard.

Ms. Katie Warner is a natural resource and animal sciences teacher. She manages the greenhouse and teaches plant science to incoming freshmen. She was nominated for the award for being a progressive teacher.

“She works really really hard in improving her education as well as ours,” said sophomore Elaine Keithley.

Warner is involved with the Maryland Agriculture Teachers Association, and she attends many Future Farmers of America (FFA) meetings with students.

“Warner is highly committed to the magnet program, I am very proud of her,” said principal Mr. Ed Herbold.

Warner was invited to fly across the country to Las Vegas Nevada during the week of December 3-7 for the convention.

“This will only magnify the level of teaching in the ag program,” said Herbold.

The convention, which is sponsored by Ram Trucks, gives the awards to teachers with four years or less experience in agricultural teaching. The teachers are given the option of learning through workshops and networking sessions.

“Ms. Warner is a really good teacher overall, she definitely deserved to go,” said sophomore Sophia Hodiste.

A lot of the workshops had to deal with STEM related labs which science is moving towards for the future. STEM is an acronym that deals with the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is looking to be more implemented in the school system in the future.

“She [Ms. Warner] said she learned a lot and had a lot of fun,” said Keithley.

Warner was able to listen to speakers from the agricultural industry. They spoke of research concerning how lessons can be better taught in schooling and how people can bring more people into the agricultural workforce.

“They said we should be encouraging more people into taking jobs in agriculture,” said Warner.

Warner believes that people should focus more on the agriculture jobs that are open. The places where jobs are needed are in the agricultural department.

“It is not just about being a farmer, there are so many branches that people can go into,” said Warner.