NYS Teacher One of 10 Honored for Agriculture Education

This comes from the American Farm Bureau Federation:


Washington, D.C. – The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture recognized eight teachers and two volunteer educators for their exceptional efforts to encourage agricultural literacy.

One of the teachers is Cathy Carr, Banford Elementary School, Canton. She has been teaching for 25 years and has incorporated agriculture into each of her subjects with her first, second and third grade pupils. She also has partnered with the high school ag program and has started a school garden, developed garden newsletters and created promotional posters with her pupils and created planting grids with her math students. She also gets her pupils involved in a class worm farm during science to learn about ecosystems, life cycles, and healthy soil.

The educators will each receive $1,500 scholarships to attend the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference in Minneapolis, Minn., in June. The Foundation, through the White-Reinhardt Fund for Education, sponsors the scholarships in cooperation with the American Farm Bureau’s Women’s Leadership Committee.
This year’s other teacher recipients are: Cathy Britts Axen, Central Middle School, North Aurora, Ill.; Sarah Glenn, Huntsville Intermediate School, Elkins, Ark.; Shirley Lettkeman, Watonga Elementary School, Watonga, Okla.; Missy Locke, Richland Elementary School, Lynnville, Tenn.; Raymond Dennis Peavy, Lake Joy Elementary, Perry, Ga.; Andrea Jones Seagraves, Crawford County Eagle’s Nest, Musella, Ga.; and Debra Templin, Prosperity-Rikard Elementary School, Prosperity, S.C.

This year’s volunteer recipients are: Martha Cripe of Vandalia, Ill., and Melvin Grones of Seguin, Texas.

Educators nationwide attend the conference to learn how to incorporate real-life agricultural applications into science, social studies, language arts, math and nutrition lessons.

Scholarship recipients were judged on past use of innovative programs to educate students about agriculture as well as future plans to implement information gained at the Ag In The Classroom conference in their own lesson plans and share the information with other educators.
The Ag In The Classroom conference joins a diverse group of organizations and speakers to address how to improve agricultural education and literacy, showcase successful programs and offer educational materials.

The Agriculture Department coordinates the Ag In The Classroom program with the goal of helping students gain a greater awareness of the role of agriculture in the economy and society.

The American Farm Bureau Federation and state Farm Bureaus also support and participate in the program’s efforts. The White-Reinhardt Fund for Education honors two former American Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee chairwomen, Berta White and Linda Reinhardt, who were leaders in early national efforts to educate about agriculture and improve agricultural literacy.