Family and consumer sciences teachers Professional Development Institute held at Hotel Madison

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – The Virginia Association for Teachers of Family and Consumer Sciences (VATFACS) is holding its annual Professional Development Institute conference at Hotel Madison in Harrisonburg this week.

The conference aims to empower family and consumer science teachers around Virginia by providing them with resources and lesson plans to take back to their schools.

“Family and Consumer Sciences encompasses a lot of different disciplines under our umbrella to include culinary, early childhood education, teachers for tomorrow, exploratory classes for middle schools, so we encompass a lot of different things under our umbrella,” said Toshieba Ragland, President of VATFACS. “We come together as one, and we do a lot of presentations to incorporate all the disciplines for us to network, so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel.”

Around 120 teachers and administrators from around Virginia registered for the conference. The event includes more than 85 presenters, two keynote speakers, as well as support from the Virginia Department of Education and the Office of Career and Technical Education.

The conference kicked off Sunday night with a chicken fabrication. 15 chickens donated by the Virginia Poultry Federation were broken down by culinary instructors to teach knife skills. Two chefs then demonstrated a way to prepare the chickens and the meals were donated to Our Community Place in Harrisonburg.

The conference includes several culinary demonstrations from chefs around the U.S.

“We have the Barbeque Pork Texas Association showing how to cook with pork in the classroom, so teachers will be leaving with lesson plans and recipes they can use in their classroom. We have the airstream here, Zwilling Airstream, doing the cutlery and the beef as well, Barn to Barbeque. So, we’re doing great things here. Teachers will be leaving with an array of recipes they can use in their classrooms, food safety, and culinary components as well,” said Ragland.

Ragland said that the conference is especially beneficial for new family and consumer science teachers.

“It is very hard to get into the profession the first year and going and running with lesson plans and knowing what it looks like and what to do. So, our veteran teachers are here to mentor those teachers that are just coming in with us,” she said.

Ragland said that Family and Consumer Science classes are extremely important for students and that they complement every discipline in schools.

“Kids today, they have to learn how to be able to leave the nest so to speak at home and be able to take care of themselves. That’s where CTE comes in, we hit all facets of living and life starting from the beginning,” she said.

The conference will run through Wednesday with sessions from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

“They have different sessions that they can actually participate in and get as many resources as they can to take back to their base school and share with other teachers in their department. So, we don’t reinvent the wheel, to make things easier, so we can have a very smooth transition and opening for the beginning of the school year,” said Ragland.

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