Nebraska Career and Technical Education Conference 2026

Strong community partnerships are essential to building and sustaining high-quality agricultural education programs. This session is designed for high school agriculture teachers who want to better utilize FFA  Supporters and Agriculture Education Advisory Committees to strengthen their programs.


Explore the roles and purposes of each group, how they complement one another, common frustration points, practical strategies for recruiting members, organizing meetings, and maximizing their impact, and best practices when working with both groups. The session will highlight real-world examples of how these groups can support student learning, FFA activities, facilities, fundraising, advocacy, and long-term program planning. Attendees will leave with actionable ideas, tools, and best practices to effectively engage stakeholders and build sustainable support networks for their agricultural education programs.

The National Program Standards for Agricultural Education, developed by the Council for Agricultural Education, provide a framework for delivering high-quality, comprehensive agricultural education programs. This session introduces participants to the purpose and structure of the standards and demonstrates how they can be used as a practical tool for program improvement. Participants will explore how the standards support alignment among classroom instruction, FFA, and Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAEs), while strengthening program accountability and student outcomes.

This session introduces middle and high school teachers to engaging ways to teach science concepts using food and the human senses. Participants will experience hands-on activities using sensory analysis – especially smell and taste –and simple food-based investigations that model real-world scientific thinking to explore food properties. By the end of the session, teachers will be able to implement sensory activities that encourage student questioning, evidence-based reasoning, and data interpretation, while increasing student engagement and curiosity about food science and related careers.