Ag In The Classroom

Teachers go to school on food production
(Mike Nederbrock/KTUU-DT)
by Samuel RosenbluthTuesday, August 4, 2009

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Local teachers spent Tuesday on a farm to learn about food production.
About 20 teachers took part in the Agriculture in the Classroom program. The class is a way to help Alaska teachers find out how food is produced and distributed.

The hope is that the experience will allow teachers to pass on the knowledge.

"We are taking a class for teachers," said Sarah Rodriguze, a 4th grade teacher. "Showing them agriculture in the Valley and how food is produced so we can take it back to our classrooms and share that with the students."

The hands-on class runs for three days and is a great chance for teachers to add to their education. Link

Most of you probably have an Ag In The Classroom project in your state or some type of similar program. It’s critical that we support these programs not only financially but also with our time and talents. Our kids in school today are being exposed to animal rights propaganda without them or the teachers even realizing it. Both PETA and HSUS have an active children’s programming component to their organizations. We need to be in the schools too, telling our story and being a resource for our teachers about agriculture.

Teaching Teachers About Ag

Teachers learn ways to bring agriculture to the classroom
Tuesday, June 30, 2009 9:53 AM CDT

STEPHENVILLE, TEXAS - A group of elementary school teachers from across Texas recently spent a week on Tarleton State University’s campus participating in the 15th annual Summer Agricultural Institute.

The Texas Farm Bureau sponsors the event in which educators attend workshops and participate in activities learning ways to take agriculture back to their classrooms. The teachers receive continuing education credits to help satisfy the requirements of their local school districts and three hours of graduate credit from Tarleton.

The week’s events included a field trip with destinations such as Veldhuizen Cheese Shoppe, Callaway Rope Company, Dublin Dr Pepper, Sierra Dairy and more.At the end of their visit, the teachers were treated to a catered dinner at Tarleton’s dining hall.

Keynote speaker Dr. George Austin, retired agronomist from Texas AgriLife Research, reiterated the week’s message of the importance of agriculture in the classroom. Read More

I believe that it is critical for agriculture to have a presence in our classrooms. Either through programs like this that educate the teachers about agriculture, or else using projects like Ag In The Classroom. The other option that is the best in my opinion is for farmers and ranchers to go into some local classrooms themselves to talk to the kids. My wife and I have done this a few times and it’s always a great experience. The kids are so excited to have someone else besides their teacher in the room and are eager to hear what you have to say.

Taking Farms to School

Students Welcome Farm Animals To The Classroom
April 7, 2009 at 6:59pm Waseca County, MN

Elementary school students in Waseca had a change in curriculum today, as local farmers became teachers. The Waseca County Pork Producers Association, along with other Waseca County commodity groups, presented Ag in the Classroom at Hartley Elementary School. Livestock and crop producers educated third grade students about their farms and how they contribute to food production. Vicki Singlestad says, "There are fewer and fewer children that grow up on farms these days and don't really know about agriculture. So we like to teach them about agriculture where their food comes from, how it is produced.” The third graders even got to hold baby pigs and sheep as part of the program. Link

The youth of this nation have been a prime target for animal rights groups for quite some time. Their efforts to indoctrinate these kids have included almost anything you can think of, including making trading cards featuring diseases caused from drinking milk, to awarding prizes for refusing to dissect animals in school. It’s very important that ag producers take the opportunities to have school kids come out to their farms, or if the schools don’t allow that, take your farm to them. It’s all about making a connection with these kids. Sadly, this may be their only exposure to agriculture. Congratulations to the Waseca Country Pork Producers and the rest of their local ag groups for their efforts.

The "Rocking" Tree Farmer

AFB: Rolling Stones Rocker Calls for More Agriculture & Nature Education

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 25, 2008 — Today’s children are increasingly disconnected from the natural world and schools can play a big role in fixing this. That’s the message Chuck Leavell, Rolling Stones keyboardist, shared during his keynote address at the Ag in the Classroom conference in Costa Mesa, Calif., this week. Leavell addressed the teachers present not as a musician but as a Georgia tree farmer and the author of the 2007 American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture Book of the Year The Tree Farmer.

Leavell told the group of more than 500 attendees he wrote his book in response to what he calls “nature-deficit disorder,” where younger generations don’t understand or appreciate nature and agriculture. He adds that classrooms are the ideal place to fix this but teachers are facing increased pressure to teach towards standardized tests.

“Programs like Ag in the Classroom and the American Forest Foundation’s Project Learning Tree help educators make outdoor experiences part of their everyday lesson plans,” Leavell said. “They teach core subjects through experiences in nature and show that learning through environmental education is not incompatible with math and reading instruction.” He adds that this method has also been shown to improve test scores.