The National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization (NAITCO), a non-profit membership organization that supports Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) state programs around the country, recently elected officers to lead the group in its efforts to increase agricultural literacy in K-12 classrooms nationwide. 

Will Fett, executive director of the Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation in Des Moines, Iowa, was elected president. Tammy Maxey, executive director of the Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom, was elected president-elect by NAITCO members for 2018-19.  

Effectively using ag to teach other subjects

In addition, Katie Carpenter, executive director of New York Agriculture in the Classroom, was elected treasurer, and Tonya Wible, education director of Pennsylvania Friends of Agriculture Foundation, was elected secretary by the NAITCO Executive Committee. Rounding out the officer team is immediate past president Willie Grenier, executive director of Maine Agriculture in the Classroom.  

“We’ve got a great team of Ag in the Classroom representatives from around the country to lead our national organization,” says Fett. “I look forward to working with them as we strive to show teachers how effective using agricultural concepts can be to teach reading, writing, science, social studies, math and more.”  

Regional representatives elected

Regional representatives elected for the upcoming year: 

NAITCO is a non-profit organization representing most of the 50 state Ag in the Classroom programs around the country. Its mission is to educate K-12 teachers and students about the importance of agriculture by providing them with web-based materials, workshops and awards programs that demonstrate how agriculture can be used to effectively teach core subject areas. 

For more information, contact NAITCO executive director Lisa Gaskalla at [email protected] call (352) 745-0246.

Source: National Ag in the Classroom