Agriculture in the Classroom
The Woodford County Farm Bureau Agriculture in the Classroom Program is conducted by volunteers annually.
You can get involved by being a local classroom presenter or volunteer, or by adopting a Chicago Area Classroom to provide urban students with a glimpse of where their food and fiber comes from. If you are interested in being a local volunteer or presenter, email woodfordcfb@gmail.com. If you are interested in adopting a classroom, visit www.agintheclassroom.org.
Summary of AITC Activities
There are fewer children growing up on farms, and within rural communities every year. There is a great need for agricultural education in the school systems. However, teachers are faced with an increasing number of requirements to cover in their classrooms. Also, finding volunteers willing to stand in front of a classroom and speak are limited. Our goal is to provide the necessary materials to all the 3rd grade teachers in the county to educate their students about the basics of agriculture, without disrupting their schedules, and allowing them to utilize our materials on their own time.
Starting in 2015, our county began utilizing the Lesson in a Bucket originally to provide supplemental information to the few we were presenting lessons at per school year. The supplemental information helped to enhance the lesson and gave the students more than what we could give them in one class period. We decided to take what we were already using and make it bigger and better. Instead of just putting supplemental information into the Lesson in a Bucket, we decided to put entire lessons capable of being delivered to classrooms into the buckets.
Individuals on our Women’s Committee are assigned to each of the nine schools with a third grade within our county. Each volunteer essentially becomes an agriculture pen-pal with their assigned third grade classroom(s). They are in contact with their teachers before we start, and throughout the school year. Other pertinent information is emailed to the teachers throughout the school year via their “pen-pal” to further fill in holes in the lessons. Current agriculture news and happenings are also shared with the teachers.
We set it up so that each class receives a total of six lessons throughout the school year. The volunteer would drop one bucket off that contained two lessons; then switch them out twice during the school year. The buckets are all labeled with a Lesson in a Bucket graphic, and the County Farm Bureau contact information. The first bucket also included a manila folder labeled specifically for the teacher; containing Ag in the Classroom Calendars, pen-pal contact information, general information regarding GMO's and other 'hot' agriculture topics, and information on becoming a Farm Bureau Member if they were not already. Each lesson contained Illinois Ag Mags for the students to keep for themselves, books that were specific to each topic to be returned with the bucket, and “STEM” approved lessons and activities from both AFBFA and ILAITC for the teachers to take copies of and utilize how they saw best fit. The first bucket was the “Grain Bucket.” It contained lessons on Corn and Soybeans. The second bucket was the “Livestock Bucket.” It contained lessons on Beef and Pork. The last bucket was the “Natural Resources Bucket.” It contained lessons on Pollinators and Soil.
This activity is unique in that it focuses on youth agriculture education using a volunteer network in the county. The teachers can utilize our materials to do what they do best, and our volunteers can provide all their “on the farm knowledge” that the teachers may require.
We reach around 500 third graders through about 24 third grade teachers in the county over the span of the school year. Every third grader in the county gets a taste of agriculture education in their classrooms.
The Woodford County Farm Bureau Agriculture in the Classroom Program is conducted by volunteers annually.
You can get involved by being a local classroom presenter or volunteer, or by adopting a Chicago Area Classroom to provide urban students with a glimpse of where their food and fiber comes from. If you are interested in being a local volunteer or presenter, email woodfordcfb@gmail.com. If you are interested in adopting a classroom, visit www.agintheclassroom.org.
Summary of AITC Activities
There are fewer children growing up on farms, and within rural communities every year. There is a great need for agricultural education in the school systems. However, teachers are faced with an increasing number of requirements to cover in their classrooms. Also, finding volunteers willing to stand in front of a classroom and speak are limited. Our goal is to provide the necessary materials to all the 3rd grade teachers in the county to educate their students about the basics of agriculture, without disrupting their schedules, and allowing them to utilize our materials on their own time.
Starting in 2015, our county began utilizing the Lesson in a Bucket originally to provide supplemental information to the few we were presenting lessons at per school year. The supplemental information helped to enhance the lesson and gave the students more than what we could give them in one class period. We decided to take what we were already using and make it bigger and better. Instead of just putting supplemental information into the Lesson in a Bucket, we decided to put entire lessons capable of being delivered to classrooms into the buckets.
Individuals on our Women’s Committee are assigned to each of the nine schools with a third grade within our county. Each volunteer essentially becomes an agriculture pen-pal with their assigned third grade classroom(s). They are in contact with their teachers before we start, and throughout the school year. Other pertinent information is emailed to the teachers throughout the school year via their “pen-pal” to further fill in holes in the lessons. Current agriculture news and happenings are also shared with the teachers.
We set it up so that each class receives a total of six lessons throughout the school year. The volunteer would drop one bucket off that contained two lessons; then switch them out twice during the school year. The buckets are all labeled with a Lesson in a Bucket graphic, and the County Farm Bureau contact information. The first bucket also included a manila folder labeled specifically for the teacher; containing Ag in the Classroom Calendars, pen-pal contact information, general information regarding GMO's and other 'hot' agriculture topics, and information on becoming a Farm Bureau Member if they were not already. Each lesson contained Illinois Ag Mags for the students to keep for themselves, books that were specific to each topic to be returned with the bucket, and “STEM” approved lessons and activities from both AFBFA and ILAITC for the teachers to take copies of and utilize how they saw best fit. The first bucket was the “Grain Bucket.” It contained lessons on Corn and Soybeans. The second bucket was the “Livestock Bucket.” It contained lessons on Beef and Pork. The last bucket was the “Natural Resources Bucket.” It contained lessons on Pollinators and Soil.
This activity is unique in that it focuses on youth agriculture education using a volunteer network in the county. The teachers can utilize our materials to do what they do best, and our volunteers can provide all their “on the farm knowledge” that the teachers may require.
We reach around 500 third graders through about 24 third grade teachers in the county over the span of the school year. Every third grader in the county gets a taste of agriculture education in their classrooms.