Kentucky Ag Literacy Partners Cut Ribbon on Third Mobile Science Activity Center

Agriculture Commissioner James Comer and Kentucky's agricultural literacy partners cut the ribbon to ceremonially launch the new Eastern Kentucky Mobile Science Activity Center that will travel to schools and events throughout the region. 

“The new Mobile Science Activity Center is designed to negotiate some of the challenging terrain that can be found in parts of eastern Kentucky,” Commissioner Comer said during the November 13 ceremony at the Kentucky Exposition Center. “This unit will enable us to reach more schools in the region so we can help educators teach their students about the importance of agriculture in their everyday lives.”

The Eastern Kentucky Mobile Science Activity Center is a 36-foot-long trailer equipped with 10 iPad interactive workstations for students to conduct activities and investigations related to agriculture and the environment. It will be placed into service after the first of the year.

The new unit will join two 44-foot-long Mobile Science Activity Centers that travel to schools and events throughout the Commonwealth. The mobile units are administered by the Division of Agriculture Education and Outreach in the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Office of Marketing.

The Eastern Kentucky unit is part of the Appalachia Proud initiative that Commissioner Comer launched in February 2014 to promote farm products and improve agricultural literacy in 37 eastern Kentucky counties.

The new MSAC was purchased and outfitted with support from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund and Kentucky Agriculture and Environment in the Classroom Inc.’s member partners: the Kentucky Pork Producers, the AgriBusiness Association of Kentucky, Farm Credit Mid-America, the Kentucky Beef Council, the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association, the Kentucky Corn Growers Association, the Kentucky Dairy Development Council, the Kentucky Equine Education Project, Kentucky Farm Bureau, the Kentucky Goat Producers Association, the Kentucky Horse Council, the Kentucky Pork Producers Association, the Kentucky Poultry Federation, the Kentucky Retail Federation, the Kentucky Small Grain Growers' Association, the Kentucky Soybean Promotion Board, and the Kentucky Veterinary Medical Association.

KyAEC Reaches 3,500 Youth and Adults with Ag Literacy Programs at the Kentucky State Fair

Kentucky Agriculture and Environment in the Classroom was able to reach an estimated 3,500 youth and adults with their agriculture literacy programs at the Kentucky State Fair, August 20-30, 2015.

"The Kentucky State Fair is the perfect venue to reach a large number of Kentucky's citizens about how agriculture impacts our daily lives," said Jennifer Elwell, KyAEC executive director. "While many agriculture education efforts are underway during the fair, we wanted to add our programs to the mix in order to introduce our organization as a primary coordinator of agriculture literacy efforts for schools and youth programs."

Through a partnership with the Kentucky State Fair Board, KyAEC provided its Agriculture Adventures program on the Kids Biz stage twice a day during the run of the fair. Agriculture Adventures is a 30-minute show that tells how a pizza is made with the help of Kentucky's farmers.

KyAEC and its member volunteers also provided agricultural learning activities to visitors at the KSFB's Children's Coloring Mural. The activities are part of the Agriculture on the Move program, which provides hand-on agriculture lessons to members of the Agriculture Literacy Network.

KyAEC introduced it's latest Kentucky-specific agriculture resource as well, the Kentucky Agriculture A to Z Coloring Book.

"There are so many wonderful agriculture literacy resources and lessons from the nation's agricultural organizations, but we also want to provide learning that provided specific information about Kentucky farms, food and agribusiness," said Elwell. "This coloring book provides a snapshot of how Kentucky agriculture works to provide us food, jobs, and natural resources."

The coloring book was produced with a matching Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund investment and will be sold to further support agricultural literacy efforts in the commonwealth.

KyAEC would like to provide a special thank you to its many Kentucky State Fair volunteers: Kentucky Poultry Federation, Cal-Main Foods, Pilgrim's Pride, and Perdue.

For more information about Kentucky's agricultural literacy programs, visit www.teachkyag.org.

CHS Grants for K-12 Teachers Available - $1,500 Awarded for Use of Ag-Based Lessons

CHS is providing five Classroom Grants through the National Agriculture in the Classroom. The $1,500 grants will be awarded to kindergarten through 12th grade core education teachers whose innovative classroom projects use agricultural concepts to teach reading, writing, math, nutrition, science and/or social studies. The deadline for grant proposals is September 15, 2015. Recipients will be notified by email on or before October 1, 2015.   

The CHS Classroom Grant Program is designed to fund projects that will educate K-12 students about the importance of agriculture and allow teachers to use agricultural concepts to teach core subject areas. Those who receive one of the five grants will be required to use at least two lesson plans from the National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix or two lesson plans from a state Agriculture in the Classroom program.

In addition, grant proposals must demonstrate how local farmers, ranchers or agriculture industry representatives will be involved in the project. 

Grant reviewers will use this CHS Grant Rubric. 

CHS will highlight the winning classroom grants at its annual meeting in December 2016.

Timeline:
Grant proposals must be submitted online by midnight (PST) September 15, 2015.
Awards will be announced via email October 1, 2015
A final report due to the National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization by June 1, 2016.

For more information, visit http://www.agclassroom.org/get/chs_grant.cfm. 

Owensboro Farmer Provides Home-Grown Education for Community Kids

Suzanne Cecil White, a produce farmer in Owensboro, knows the value of education and learning by doing. She is also a strong advocate of healthy eating and providing her community a personal connection to her farm. By adding these passions together, this former high school math teacher has a formula for success.

Two years ago, Suzanne wanted to create a program that allowed kids to get their hands dirty and understand how fruits and vegetables are produced locally. Once a week for six weeks, she hosted a "Farm Camp" for kids ages 7-10. The kids were able to plant and harvest their own vegetables while learning about farming along the way. They also visited other farms in the area to learn about livestock and different farm enterprises. The camp was a huge success, and several parents asked if it would be offered again.

The produce season of 2014 came with a new addition to her family, but she knew she wanted to continue providing educational programs through her farm.

Earlier this year, she connected with a local Boys and Girls Club (Cliff Hagan Boys and Girls Club) through her involvement in area leadership organizations. The club was offering a locally-funded program called "Positive Sprouts" and Suzanne wanted to offer her expertise and her farm for their curriculum.

Suzanne provided the club a small plot on her family's produce farm (Cecil Farms Produce). They planted on March 31st and have been tending it at least once weekly ever since. The kids are now enjoying harvesting the vegetables, and they sell it at the local farmer's market, use it for meals at the club, or provide it for their families. The money the kids make at the farmer's market goes back to the program.

"This has been a very successful program," Suzanne said. "The kids love it. The community members love it. The farmer's market customers love it. I had a customer start crying because she saw the joy on the kids' faces when they shared their experience with her. This has had such a positive impact on everyone involved.

Ag in the Classroom Launches National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix

The National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix is an online, searchable, and standards-based curriculum map for K-12 teachers. The Matrix contextualizes national education standards in science, social studies, and nutrition education with relevant instructional resources linked to Common Core Standards.

Search the instructional, classroom-ready resources >>

Kentucky Hosts Successful National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference

Kentucky Farm Bureau's Betty Farris checking out a few
agriculture resources at the NAITC in Louisville.

More than 400 educators from around the country learned the ‘Unbridled Possibilities’ of using agricultural concepts to teach reading, writing, math, science, social studies and more at the National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization’s (NAITCO) National Conference held at The Galt House Hotel June 16-20 in Louisville, Kentucky.

NAITCO, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute for Food & Agriculture and Kentucky Agriculture in the Classroom, held three days of workshops that showed kindergarten through 12th grade teachers how to use agriculture to teach core subject areas. In addition, conference participants went on traveling workshops of nearby farms and university research facilities to learn about the equine, soybean and bourbon industries, among other stops. The conference also honored several national teacher winners and a national Ag Advocate winner for the innovative ways they use agriculture to teach students about an important industry.

The Kentucky Agriculture and Environment in the Classroom was sponsor of the state coordinators annual meeting. Executive Director Jennifer Elwell and Vice Chair Becky Kinder (Kentucky Soybean Board) attended meet program coordinators and educators from across the country as well as showcase KyAEC programs and resources.

KyAEC Vice Chair Becky Kinder and Executive Director Jennifer Elwell. 

This activity that encourages students to learn where key commodities are produced
was a huge hit with the conference attendees.

Kentucky teacher Leslie Meredith

Kentucky was also honored to have a local recipient of the 2015 Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Award, which is sponsored by the USDA-NIFA and Farm Credit. Seventh grade science teacher Leslie Preston Meredith earned the award for featuring agricultural concepts to teach across the curriculum to foster in her students’ minds a love of the environment and an appreciation of the importance of agriculture.

Kentucky Farm Bureau also played a large part in helping plan the conference and schedule the local tours. They also provided scholarships for several Kentucky teachers to attend.

For more conference coverage, visit http://www.agclassroom.org/conference2015/index.htm.

Becky Kinder and Judy Hayden sharing a blanket for warmth in a typical hotel conference setting. 

Kentucky auctioneer David Neville (Capstone Produce Market) encourages bids during the live
auction to raise funds for the NAITC program. He sweetened the pot on several occasions. 

A group of educators from California were the winners of the Kentucky sponsored
gift basket and tickets and Churchill Downs. 

Kentucky group sharing stories and laughter. 

Kentucky teacher Judy Hayden leads addresses the group and asks for God's blessing on the meal. 

 

Kentucky Farm Bureau's Scott Christmas played a huge role in organizing the conference. 

Kentucky farmer Sharon Furches addressed a dinner crowd. 

Next year's National Agriculture and Environment in the Classroom's Conference will be held in Phoenix, AZ, June 20-24, 2016. Learn more at www.agclassroom.org. 

Derby Week is a Great Time to Celebrate our Horse Heritage

The running of the Kentucky Derby and our rich equine heritage definitely make life unique in our great Commonwealth of Kentucky. We have put a few quick lessons and resources together to help introduce your students to the equine industry and "the greatest two minutes in sports."

Lessons on Horses & The Kentucky Derby - http://www.teachkyag.org/equine.html

http://www.teachkyag.org/equine.html 

Many thanks are provided to the Kentucky Horse Council and the Kentucky Equine Education Project for their support of our programs.