The Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation (IALF) has awarded 111 grants to schools throughout Iowa to support the integration of agriculture into classroom instruction or after-school programs with an academic focus.
The Agriculture in the Classroom Teacher Supplement Grants are designed to help teachers initiate new projects or expand existing projects that promote agricultural literacy in students. Grants can be used to fund innovative lessons, activities, classroom resources, guest speakers, outreach programs, educational trips, and other projects.
"I cannot begin to thank IALF enough for this opportunity to bring agriculture into my classroom. The students will learn so much" says Cassandra Cate. Teachers will use these funds for field trips to dairy farms, hatcheries, and ag history tours. Many recipients also plan to conduct projects related to aquaponics, water quality and farm to fork education. These agricultural experiences will also support language arts, social studies and a variety of other concepts already taught in their classrooms.
"We had very high-quality applications this year involving agriculture in core curriculum in innovative and creative ways," said IALF Interim Executive Director Barb Lykins. "These projects will allow teachers to make learning real and relevant for their students and still align to state educational standards."
The grants are a special project of IALF and made possible through support from the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation.
"The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) is proud to provide financial assistance to support teachers in their classrooms," said Ronnette Vondrak, IFBF community resources manager. "Agricultural literacy is critical in further expanding knowledge and an understanding on the value and impact of Iowa agriculture."
The projects will be completed before the end of the school year with final reports submitted by June 6. For more information, visit www.iowaagliteracy.org.
Categories: Iowa, Education