The Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation is making mini-grants available to support the integration of agriculture into classroom instruction or after-school programs with an academic focus.

Referring to her students who had ag in the classroom, Karen Moeller, a 2018 grant recipient, says, “They were so excited in their learning, I have no doubt they will remember the facts they learned for a very long time.”

The Agriculture in the Classroom Teacher Supplement Grants, made possible through support from the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, help Iowa teachers initiate new projects or expand existing projects that promote agriculture literacy in students. Teachers can apply for $200 grants that can be used to fund innovative lessons, activities, classroom resources, guest speakers, outreach programs, field trips and other projects. Up to 175 grants will be awarded to teachers throughout Iowa.

Integrating ag into learning
One of last year’s grant recipients, Cheryl Huebner, says, “Students continued to develop reading skills in a safe environment that recognized and valued their rural and agriculturally based life. Students improved writing and spelling skills while writing about the characters, such as Gilbert the pig, farm life and agriculture.”

Preschool through 12th-grade teachers, librarians and after-school program coordinators at Iowa schools are eligible to apply. Grants must relate to social studies, science, math, language arts or 21st-century skills, and integrate agriculture into the learning.

“Agriculture in the Classroom and agriculture literacy has been an area of emphasis for the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation for many years,” says Barb Lykins, IFBF director of community resources. “We see this as a value to teachers allowing them to connect what they are doing to Iowa’s No. 1 industry.”

The deadline for application is Jan. 9, 2019, and the proposed project must take place between Jan. 15 and June 5. To apply online or for more information, visit iowaagliteracy.org.

Source: Iowa Ag Literacy Foundation