Category: Cooperative Extension
UD Extension welcomes Delaware educators for professional development
September 21, 2026 Article and photos by Michele Walfred
On Sept. 15, the University of Delaware Elbert N. and Ann V. Carvel Research and Education Center in Georgetown welcomed 52 agriscience educators from across the state for a day of professional development.
With a long history of partnering with agriscience teachers and FFA in the state, Tracy Wootten, Sussex County horticulture agent with UD Cooperative Extension, reached out to Sarah Bell to plan the day’s agenda, taught by UD Extension experts.
Bell is the agriscience program director for the state of Delaware Department of Education and the state FFA advisor. She gladly accepted Wootten’s offer.
“This gives our teachers an opportunity to utilize the resources that they have available to them,” Bell said.
The educators selected from sessions covering commercial greenhouse management, small ruminants, enterprise budgets, a plant science quiz software, and an overview of precision agriculture. Before concluding the day’s events, the group toured the Carvel Center's 347-acre campus.
Bell received terrific feedback from the event.
“It’s been amazing. The teachers loved it; they’ve been engaged and excited,” said Bell. They actually asked for all of the slide shows, which tells me they’re getting a lot out of it.”
For her first session choice, Lauren Ruskey, a 16-year agriscience veteran at Caesar Rodney High School, tried something new — enterprise budgets, a session taught by Nate Bruce, farm business management specialist for UD Extension.
”Admittedly, that’s not something I teach a lot of in my class,” Ruskey said. “But, there were some really cool things that Nate talked about as far as setting budgets with our students and teaching them how to go about that process.”
Ruskey plans to bring what she learned back to her fourth-level work-based learning students and their operation of a chicken coop.
”All the kids are responsible for collecting ingredients, but also selling products. So now we can make a budget with them and see how profitable we can be with that.”
Ruskey also teaches an intro-level animal science class, so opting for a session on small ruminants, taught by UD Extension’s Susan Garey, animal science agent and state 4-H animal science coordinator, was a natural choice.
“That was wonderful,” Ruskey said. “We have goats at school that our kids take care of. There were some really cool tips and tricks that Susan shared in all of her years that she’s learned that we hope to take back to school.”
Ruskey recognizes that the agricultural sector is constantly evolving and feels that Extension helps bridge the gap between her and her colleagues’ expertise and what is happening on the ground.
”The industry is changing, and having that connection to UD helps validate what we’re doing and give what we’re teaching in our classrooms some relevancy,” Ruskey said. “We’re teaching the kids, and Cooperative Extension is showing them how this works in the real world, or this is when you’re going to need to use this in the real world.”
An example of rapid change is in the precision agriculture arena — a session taught by James Adkins, director of the Carvel Center, and Jarrod Miller, extension agronomist. In addition to the innovative products and services, Adkins highlighted related in-demand careers, such as equipment maintenance and data collection and analysis.
Ruskey engages in career discussions with her students who do not have a fixed career in mind but are interested in plants, animals or technology.
“Precision agriculture is now on my radar,” Ruskey exclaimed. “I knew about it, but it’s not something I deal with every day. Again, not something I teach, but it was informative to see just how intricate those technology systems are to get across to the market.”
“That technology piece is a way to hook some of those kids that are into technology, but maybe didn’t come from a farm background and kind of help them find their place,” Ruskey added.
The session on commercial greenhouse management sprouted from a discussion that plant science teachers had in June when they met with UD Extension agents about their curriculum changes, explained Brynn Bailey of Middletown High School.
“We discussed the need for more industry-standard professional development, and UD’s staff offered to host us in the fall,” Bailey said.
The in-service provided an opportunity for educators to meet a new Extension team member, Makenzie Lee, who joined UD in July as an ornamental horticulture specialist.
“Makenzie reviewed a lot of the basics that we as teachers who maintain greenhouses would need to know, but also gave us professional tips on how to manage pests, identify diseases, and how to treat the problems we come across,” Bailey said.
Bailey has collaborated with Tracy Wootten for 11 years on a nursery landscape FFA contest. These ongoing relationships are important. Extension trains FFA students for competitions throughout the year. Wootten and her colleagues judge FFA entries and contests at the Delaware State Fair.
“I’ve worked with FFA competitions and students since 1989,” Wootten said. “The work these teachers do all year to prepare students for the fast-paced changes in agriculture is phenomenal.
“They are very committed, and the students they prepare are very well-served in the First State,” Wootten adds. “I am proud that my colleagues at UD Extension value this amazing partnership.”
“Having this connection with UD Extension is a lifeline for both new and veteran teachers,” Bailey added. “We greatly appreciate the support and connection between our schools and the University of Delaware.”
Additional photos can be viewed on UD Extension Flickr.