By JANE HOUIN
Ohio Correspondent

TRENTON, Ohio — The importance of helping others is something Kellie Warner’s family taught her from the time she was a little girl.
And it is that belief in the importance of helping those in need that has now earned Warner the recognition of the outstanding teacher in community service for 2009.

Warner received the recognition from Region 1 of the Assoc. for Career Technical Educators, whose region encompasses 14 state associations:  Connecticut, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia.

“Helping others was something that was a part of everyday life in my family when I was growing up,” said Warner, who has been the agriculture education teacher at Edgewood High School (Butler Tech) in Trenton, Ohio, for the last six years.

“I have never experienced life without the joys that come from serving others. Community service is important to me personally because it provides me with an opportunity to act on my religious beliefs of serving others.”

Warner grew up on a farm, so agriculture has also always held a special place in her heart, and it was her active experience in FFA and agricultural education as a student that led her to a career in teaching.

“I was very active in the ag program in high school, which really shaped me into the person that I am today,” said Warner, who served as the 1997-98 Ohio FFA state secretary when she was in FFA. “My ag teachers at Margaretta High School were great role models for me, and their influence was what made me consider being a teacher myself.”

During her classes, Warner emphasizes the value of serving others in the local community, on a regional and national level, and internationally.

“As a teacher, I believe that service is a way to teach our next generation the life lessons that we have been taught: to be humble, thankful and willing to put the needs of others ahead of our own,” Warner said. “I also think that community service provides a tremendous opportunity for our students to develop positive habits that will hopefully carry over into their adult lives.”

Warner has developed a variety of community service projects for her students to coordinate, including Cardboard City, Make a Difference Day, Project Honduras, Heifer Project, Paper Recycling, Farm Zone, Levy Sign Painting, and School Landscaping.

“One key point to make about the projects, though, is that they are 100 percent student-driven,” Warner said. “Students generate the ideas, create a plan for carrying them out, implement their plans and evaluate their results,” Warner said. “As their advisor, I serve as a motivator, coordinator and educator. The students are really in charge, though. That is what I think is so amazing.”

The Cardboard City project the chapter participates in illustrates that point.

“The students truly led the effort, which over the past three years has generated over $25,000 to help local families in need in our community,” Warner said. “The reward that I received is truly a result of the efforts that my students make in community service.”

And although each student takes away something different from each project the chapter participates in, the chapter is always excited about the projects they are involved in and is always willing to go the extra mile.

“It is amazing what students will do to serve others if simply given the opportunity to do so,” Warner said. “So many students truly want to give back to the community and are excited when given the chance!”

Warner describes her students’ service and dedication as awe-inspiring.

“It is amazing to think that 125 high school students would collect sponsorships to sleep outside on a November night when the temperatures dipped to 26 degrees,” Warner said. “When given the opportunity, our students will do amazing things.”

And Warner is teaching her students to be active, productive citizens in their communities. The Edgewood/Butler Tech FFA chapter has earned Top 10 in Ohio’s Chapter, Community, and Student Development Award from 2005-2008.

As a member of Ohio Association of Agricultural Educators (OAAE), Warner currently serves as secretary. She was OAAE Beginning Teacher Mentor Chair in 2004 and has been a representative for the Ohio FFA Camp Board for the last six years.

Along with the OAAE, she is a member of the Assoc. for Career and Technical Education, Ohio Assoc. for Career and Technical Education, National Assoc. of Agriculture Educators, Ohio Education Assoc., and Butler Education Assoc.