The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Foundation’s Ag in the Classroom program has awarded nearly $9,300 to schools and organizations to expand agricultural literacy. Groups, schools and organizations can apply for up to $500 as part of the Ag in the Classroom’s matching grant program to support their project, provided they have a source of matching funds. The 22 matching grant recipients are:
Build a Food Forest – Deep Mulch Gardening – $500
Building a Food Forest is an active educational program for pre-K through 12th grade and adults in Independence. This program improves the well-being of individuals by teaching them how to grow their own vegetables and fruits. Students define deep mulch gardening, build their own small size models and compare vegetables grown in gardens versus store bought.
Cadott Community School District – Classroom to Plate, A Cadott Greenhouse Project – $500
The Cadott agriculture department is building a greenhouse to increase student learning and agriculture awareness. This greenhouse will provide vegetables for the school lunch program as well as Supervised Agricultural Experience opportunities for students involved in agricultural education. This project will provide a hands-on learning opportunity for all students who seek it.
Cows on the Concourse – 2018 Cows on the Concourse – $500
An annual event to kick-off June Dairy Month in Dane County, Cows on the Concourse is a ‘dairy good’ time. Located just off downtown Madison’s Capitol Square, this free event is fun for the whole family. This event gives kids and adults the unique opportunity to get close to cows and calves, enjoy hot grilled cheese sandwiches, chug ice-cold milk and learn from Wisconsin farmers.
Easter Seals Wisconsin – ESW FARM Agricultural Career Exploration Program – $500
Easter Seals Wisconsin’s Agricultural Career Exploration Program allows students to think outside the box while highlighting the hundreds of careers that play a role in the farming industry. The mission is to educate students with disabilities about the vast agricultural career opportunities in Wisconsin. These classes encourage students to see how their own interests could potentially fit into the agriculture industry.
Glenwood City Agriculture Department- Healthy Learning Center – $450
The Glenwood City agriculture department has developed a mobile learning center related to growing plants, providing food and making healthy choices. The system will be shared between the high school and elementary school students. The learning center teaches high school students the skills related to education and mentoring while giving elementary students a fun way to learn how food is grown.
Grant County Ag in the Classroom Program – A Dairy Good Tote – $500
Grant County Farm Bureau’s Promotion and Education Committee has tubs available for teachers to check-out. Each tub includes lesson plans, some examples of equipment used to milk dairy cows, a book about dairy, whipped cream makers, containers for making butter and ingredients/gift certificates need to make and enjoy whipped cream and butter.
Immanuel Lutheran School – Garden in a Box – $65
Ready, Set, Grow is a project at Immanuel Lutheran School in Manitowoc to help 2nd grade students learn about agriculture. Throughout the project students are develop an awareness of where their food comes from. They also learn how to manage a garden as they grow their own vegetables and flowers from seeds.
Jefferson High School Agriculture Department – Honey Bee Production – $500
The Jefferson High School Agriculture Department will invest in beekeeping equipment and supplies to bring more agricultural awareness into the local schools. The grant will be matched by a $500 grant from the Jefferson FFA with the goal of producing raw honey and honey comb to share with local elementary school students.
Kiel FFA Alumni – Agricultural Career Awareness Day – $500
Agricultural Career Awareness Day allows students to become aware of various agricultural careers at 12 different stations. For example, the landscaping station is where students gain basic knowledge of the career, take quizzes in identifying some different plants and landscape articles and then design their own landscape area working as a group.
Laconia FFA – Laconia FFA Day on the Farm – $250
Every April, the Laconia FFA Chapter holds a Day on the Farm event. Nearly 400 elementary students in 2nd to 4th grade from the Rosendale-Brandon, Fond du Lac and Oshkosh School Districts are invited to visit a farm. This year’s stations include dairy cattle, sheep and goats, farm equipment, wildlife, maple syrup, feeds, horses, dairy products and a hayride. Students are given a take home items and have a goodie bag at the end of the day.
Northland Lutheran High School – Young Sprouts – $250
This summer will be the second year of harvest for the Giving Garden which offers free produce to residents of the Village and surrounding areas. Area elementary students from the Wausau area spend the day with Northland Lutheran High School students to start seedlings for the Giving Garden, a community garden for the Village of Kronenwetter.
Partnership for Progressive Agriculture – On the Moove – $500
The Marathon County Partnership for Progressive Agriculture is developing On the Moo-ve, a mobile dairy educational exhibit. On the Moo-ve is being developed in response to the rising demand by consumers to know how dairy farms care for their cattle and why dairy is a critical component of a healthy, balanced diet. On the Moo-ve will feature a life-size fiberglass cow and two interactive educational displays.
Pineview Elementary School – How Sweet It Is! – $500
How Sweet It Is will help students gain a better understanding and appreciation of how maple syrup arrives on their table. They will participate in tapping maple trees, calculating sugar content using refractometers while collecting sap, observing the evaporation process and recording sugar levels of the final product of maple syrup. Time at the Maple Sugar Shack will allow them to be hands-on and learn more about maple syrup.
Randolph Cambria-Friesland FFA – Food Bank Project Expansion – $300
Randolph Cambria-Friesland FFA is expanding its program to support area food banks. They have set a goal of growing 4,000 pounds of produce for four area food banks. The chapter partners with Family, Career and Community Leaders of America and Jung See Company to grow, process and distribute the food.
DCE 4K at St. John Lutheran Site – Forest Food – $250
The DC Everest 4K students from St. John Lutheran in Wausau will teach students about growing food in a butterfly garden. Funds provide the opportunity for students to become farmers by starting plants from seeds in a classroom greenhouse for sunflowers, mint, chamomile and lavender. Students then transplant their plants into a butterfly garden.
St. Mary School Garden – Garden Project 2018 – $500
St. Mary School Garden will buy seeds, soil and a new garden tiller for the 2018 season. Students in grades 3K through 8th grade are provided with this hands-on experience to help them understand how food is grown and the importance of human interaction with the environment. The garden helps students master STEM concepts, promotes healthy eating and exposes students to agricultural job opportunities.
Taylor County Cooperative Youth Fair – AG Venture Tent – $500
Taylor County Youth Fair will provide an AG Venture tent at this year’s fair. Youth will be able to work with 4-H members on showing techniques in a mini-showring in the tent. They will be able to interact with a calf, lamb and goat. Displays will be updated, and videos will be shown on different ways of raising animals. Corn and soybean boxes will be offered along with trivia.
Taylor County Literacy Council – Barns and Books – $500
Through collaboration between Taylor County organizations and school districts, 4th grade students from across the county will be engaged in an afternoon of hands-on, personalized, small group learning during a Barns and Books event. Literacy materials will provide accurate information such as a backdrop to the broad range of science, technology and art topics presented.
Tri-County Elementary School- Reading through Waushara County Agriculture – $500
The Tri-County Area School District will enhance the education of nearly 300 elementary students in many curricula areas by increasing exposure to agricultural-related topics through non-fictional books. This grant will allow the Tri-County Area School District an opportunity to address the rigor of the Common Core State Standards, while promoting a major industry of the Central Sands area: agriculture.
Turtle Lake FFA – Ag on the Lawn – $400
During Ag on the Lawn, FFA members share displays on agricultural careers. Elementary students see first-hand perspectives to the agriculture industry. Teachers provide follow-up classroom activities from Farm Bureau’s Ag in the Classroom and treat students to some of Wisconsin’s finest agricultural snacks.
Union Grove FFA – Introduction to Agri-science – $500
Students at Union Grove High School’s Agriculture Education Department complete a Food Science Project where they investigate the Food Nutrient Analysis, Modeling Molecules of Life and Animal Health and Food Safety. During the project, students make different varieties of cheese and butter and develop a marketing campaign for their ‘new’ cheese/butter products and presented them to students and staff at Union Grove High School.
Verona FFA – Day on the Farm – $334
The Verona FFA Chapter will be hosting an educational field trip to 4th graders within the Verona School District. The purpose of this field trip is to provide a hands-on learning experience tied to their curriculum. Students will be able to tour a local dairy farm and participate in small group activities, designed to introduce them to agriculture in Wisconsin.
Farm Bureau’s Ag in the Classroom program provides teachers and K-12 students with an understanding of how their food is produced. The program seeks to work within existing curricula to provide basic information on our nation’s largest industry: agriculture. Wisconsin’s Ag in the Classroom program is carried out by a network of local educators, volunteers and representatives from agricultural organizations and businesses. The goal of the program is to help students gain a greater awareness of the role agriculture plays in the economy and society, so that they may become citizens who support wise agricultural policies.
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