Teachers get firsthand knowledge of PA farming at its best
Pennsylvania teachers sowed seeds of agricultural knowledge this summer through an educational program offered through the Pennsylvania Friends of Agriculture Foundation.
The foundation is a nonprofit branch of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and has annually held Agriculture In the Classroom (AIG), a training program in the summer for Pennsylvania teachers. The program recently wrapped up its tenth year, running this summer from July 12 to 17 at Penn State’s main campus in State College.
The purpose of the program is to show teachers ways to teach agriculture in a hands-on way to students.
Throughout the week, teachers followed a packed schedule that began at 7:45 a.m. and lasted into the evening.
Media relations director for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Mark O’Neill said agriculture is an area that is sometimes underrepresented in school district curriculums.
“If you ask kids where food comes from, a lot of times they will say they get it from the grocery store. One of the ideas behind the agriculture in the classroom program is to stop that disconnect and to let students know where food really originates from,” O’Neill said.
In addition to learning the origins of food, teachers learned about safety factors and environmental issues facing agriculture, ways to incorporate agricultural lessons into classroom instruction and different types of farming.
The roughly 60 participating teachers toured a mushroom farm, fruit farm, dairy farm and winery.
At the conclusion of the program, teachers were eligible to earn continuing education credits.
“The hope is that teachers take the lessons they learn back into their own classrooms and teach students about agriculture,” O’Neill said.
Members of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, local farmers, Penn State University professors and representatives provided the AIG program with presentations from the USDA.
The teacher program is funded by the Pennsylvanian Friends of Agriculture Foundation and by sponsorships from county farm bureaus throughout the state. Teachers who attend typically pay $100 of a $700 attendance fee, with the balance covered by sponsors.
Toni Arner, a sixth-grade science teacher at Upper Perkiomen Middle School, attended and hopes to educate students about agriculture through her eco-system and earth history units in school.
“We learned about so many teaching possibilities and got tons of lesson plan ideas. It was really all hands-on,” Arner said.
Arner hopes to show students the stages of embryology by exhibiting chicken eggs at different stages. She plans to share the experience with other teachers and, with school permission, to hold a fun agricultural education night for parents and students. She is in the process of proposing a school garden idea to administrators.
“I’ve wanted to do it for years, and this year it finally fit into my schedule. I learned so much about agriculture,” she said.
JoEllen Cain, a fifth-grade teacher at Brandywine Wallace Elementary School in the Downingtown Area School District, decided to attend because she thought the program sounded like a fun learning opportunity. She said she has always been interested in agriculture.
Cain plans to thread the agricultural information she learned into her classroom’s nutrition education unit, and she will also try to devote ten minutes a day in the classroom to agricultural education.
“Most students really do not know the magnitude of how important agriculture is to our country and world. It was really an incredible experience,” she said.
In addition to making a presentation to teachers in the district about the experience, Cain also hopes to start a school garden.
“It’s really important that these kids understand how important agriculture is,” she said. For more information, visit the Web site at www.pennsylvaniaagconnection.com.
The foundation is a nonprofit branch of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and has annually held Agriculture In the Classroom (AIG), a training program in the summer for Pennsylvania teachers. The program recently wrapped up its tenth year, running this summer from July 12 to 17 at Penn State’s main campus in State College.
The purpose of the program is to show teachers ways to teach agriculture in a hands-on way to students.
Throughout the week, teachers followed a packed schedule that began at 7:45 a.m. and lasted into the evening.
Media relations director for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Mark O’Neill said agriculture is an area that is sometimes underrepresented in school district curriculums.
“If you ask kids where food comes from, a lot of times they will say they get it from the grocery store. One of the ideas behind the agriculture in the classroom program is to stop that disconnect and to let students know where food really originates from,” O’Neill said.
In addition to learning the origins of food, teachers learned about safety factors and environmental issues facing agriculture, ways to incorporate agricultural lessons into classroom instruction and different types of farming.
The roughly 60 participating teachers toured a mushroom farm, fruit farm, dairy farm and winery.
At the conclusion of the program, teachers were eligible to earn continuing education credits.
“The hope is that teachers take the lessons they learn back into their own classrooms and teach students about agriculture,” O’Neill said.
Members of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, local farmers, Penn State University professors and representatives provided the AIG program with presentations from the USDA.
The teacher program is funded by the Pennsylvanian Friends of Agriculture Foundation and by sponsorships from county farm bureaus throughout the state. Teachers who attend typically pay $100 of a $700 attendance fee, with the balance covered by sponsors.
Toni Arner, a sixth-grade science teacher at Upper Perkiomen Middle School, attended and hopes to educate students about agriculture through her eco-system and earth history units in school.
“We learned about so many teaching possibilities and got tons of lesson plan ideas. It was really all hands-on,” Arner said.
Arner hopes to show students the stages of embryology by exhibiting chicken eggs at different stages. She plans to share the experience with other teachers and, with school permission, to hold a fun agricultural education night for parents and students. She is in the process of proposing a school garden idea to administrators.
“I’ve wanted to do it for years, and this year it finally fit into my schedule. I learned so much about agriculture,” she said.
JoEllen Cain, a fifth-grade teacher at Brandywine Wallace Elementary School in the Downingtown Area School District, decided to attend because she thought the program sounded like a fun learning opportunity. She said she has always been interested in agriculture.
Cain plans to thread the agricultural information she learned into her classroom’s nutrition education unit, and she will also try to devote ten minutes a day in the classroom to agricultural education.
“Most students really do not know the magnitude of how important agriculture is to our country and world. It was really an incredible experience,” she said.
In addition to making a presentation to teachers in the district about the experience, Cain also hopes to start a school garden.
“It’s really important that these kids understand how important agriculture is,” she said. For more information, visit the Web site at www.pennsylvaniaagconnection.com.
