Ag In the Classroom workshops have met all across the state. These teachers are excited to bring what they have learned back to the classroom.
Grace Powell: Curriculum from the Farm: Hello and Welcome to Tennessee Home and Farm Radio. I'm Grace Powell.
Kimberly Trail: There are just so many kids that don't get the experience the fun and the joy and see everything that happens on a farm.
Grace Powell: The Tennessee Farm Bureau Ag in the Classroom program has been able to get ag related curriculum to teachers across the state for more than 30 years. This year alone 275 teachers were able to attend workshops Erica Vanzant and a first year teacher from Franklin County says that it's important for her students to understand where their food comes from.
Erica Vanzant: A lot of kids just think that their food just comes from Walmart, they get to the store, they buy it. And they don't know that it's actually grown and, you know, it has to come from somewhere. It's not just from Walmart or Kroger
Grace Powell: Teachers are not the only ones that attend our workshops. Nina Hansen is the Soil Technician with the Coffee County Conservation District. She's been able to reach kids during after school programs and share the importance of agriculture and conservation.
Nina Hansen: So I was trying to figure out a way to mesh those standards with what I do, for example, water, the stuff we do with water, I can totally incorporate that into our like their water cycle standard. The water experiments that we did today, and the lessons I can incorporate that was what I do for water conservation. So I was trying to think of ways to mesh so that the kids that I work with are able like I'm able to go into their school day and also teach lessons there. Kind of make it all fit together.
Grace Powell: Kimberly Trail a teacher and farmer in Coffee County is always looking for new ways to incorporate hands on agricultural activities into her classroom
Kimberly Trail: Just being able to make it grade level appropriate for the kids. And so that they can learn about anything and everything that has to do with farming and how important it is and how they can have a part of it even if they do not live on a farm.
Grace Powell: The Ag in the Classroom program provides free agriculture curriculum to educators K-12. To find out more go to tnfarmbureau.org for Tennessee Home and Farm Radio. I'm Grace Powell
view more