The group is working closely with Lisa, Susie Billingsley from Bright Horizon, and Julia Hagen, the campus childcare consultant. The student group will conclude their project with an open house scheduled for April 26. A leadership course in Iowa State s agricultural education and studies department gives students hands-on involvement in community projects and class time spent reflecting on the experience. The concept is called service learning. Cary Trexler teaches one section of the Leadership in Agriculture course.
Students often learn theories in college without direct application in a real setting.
For lasting learning, theories must be applied to problems in peoples lives, he says. It seems to me that learning a theory about leadership without application would be a waste of time. This spring, his students are revamping the daycare playground at Iowa State s vet medicine college. Teaching agriculture students about leadership is important, Trexler says. When they get jobs, leadership experience will help them be successful in work teams.