Thirty-four agricultural educators from across Kansas, Colorado, and Nebraska attended the Tri-State Delta Conference, held July 10th -15th in Curtis, NE at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture. The Tri-State Delta Conference is a five-day experience designed around increasing student engagement through lesson design and facilitation in order to ensure that learning and growth happen for every student, every day.
Training was conducted in teaching pedagogy, classroom facilitation, language,
engaging moments, and work-life balance. Participants integrated this information into lesson
plans and taught it to their peers. Participants were coached in the moment and provided feed-
back in “real-time.” The intensive training included a focus on teaching methodology and
engagement, teacher leadership, and personal development. Participants completed the Indigo
assessment which helps an individual understand how they interact with others, the internal
motivators that propel them to action, and how these influence student learning. Participants also learned how to build connections and influence in their school, community, and state.
The Tri-State Delta Conference was open to agricultural educators in Kansas, Colorado
and Nebraska and was sponsored by the Kansas State Department of Education, Nebraska
Department of Education, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the Colorado Department of
Community Colleges.
Locally, Lauren Hastings attended the conference with 34 other agricultural educators.
Six educators served as mentors to the participants, providing coaching and support throughout the conference.
“The Delta Conference is different from any other teacher professional development conference out there. The five days are focused on the teacher, so the teacher can focus on students when school starts,” according to Kurt Dillon, retired Agricultural Education Program Consultant at KSDE. “Teachers learn as much about themselves and their own roadblocks to excellence as they do about designing and facilitating lessons. The conference provides follow-up work and a learning community for all involved.”
Randy Vlasin, retired Nebraska agricultural educator from Imperial, NE, and Dr. Kelly
Hoelting, Mission Valley High School, Eskridge, KS, served as the facilitator of the conference.
Our facilitators have over 50 years of experience in teaching agricultural education, mentoring,
and leadership training.