Teaching Alabama’s
teachers about farming
by Lorie Johnson
As first-grade teacher Kristia Brewer examined green rows of
cotton and observed cows being milked on a dairy farm she was
already planning ways to incorporate her experiences at the E.V.
Smith Research Center into lessons for her students at A.M. Windham
Elementary in Daleville.
“I wish I could bring them here to see these farms,”
she said. “My children would just love it.”
Now thanks to Alabama’s Ag in the Classroom program, Ms.
Brewer can take the farm to them. That’s because she was
one of 66 K-5 teachers from across the state who participated
in a recent Alabama Ag in the Classroom Teacher Institute, co-sponsored
by the Alabama Farmers Federation.
The Institute was made possible by a gift of $55,000 from the
Federation. Last year, the Federation approved a grant of $275,000
to be used over five years to fund Ag in the Classroom programs.
“Teachers have one of the most important jobs in the world
because they shape the minds of young people,” Alfa Farmers
President Jerry Newby told teachers at the workshop. “Because
so few people work on the farm, it becomes more important that
we share the story of agriculture and farming. This workshop
will allow you to return to the classroom with that story and
share it with your students.”
For three days, Institute participants attended workshops at
the Federation’s headquarters in Montgomery and visited
farms managed by Auburn University’s E.V. Smith Research
Center in Tallassee. Dr. Jim Bannon, director of the research
center, gave the teachers a tour of the center’s farms and
facilities and addressed a variety of agricultural topics from
beef farming and dairy research to horticulture and plant breeding.
Bill Gregory, superintendent of the beef unit and acting superintendent
of the dairy unit at E.V. Smith, helped Dr. Bannon give teachers
a tour of the beef and dairy units. The teachers also visited
the Milstead Gin in Tallassee, where Greg Pate, manager of Milstead
Farm Group, Inc., explained the operation of a cotton gin.
Ag in the Classroom is designed to offer teachers innovative
ways to teach agriculture to their students. It was created in
1981 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and implemented in
Alabama in 1983. The program receives no federal money and relies
on donations to survive.
Curriculum for the seminar was created and taught by Xris Blonk,
a third grade teacher at Montgomery’s Dozier Elementary,
and her mother, Dr. Barbara McMillin, a retired specialist from
the Alabama Department of Education.
Mrs. Blonk and Dr. McMillin wrote a short children’s book
for teachers to share with their classes and prepared a thick
packet of material for them to take back and incorporate into
their lesson plans. Mrs. Blonk said since teachers are required
to focus on preparing students for the SAT tests, they implemented
a variety of skills into the curriculum so agriculture and skills
could be taught simultaneously.
Teachers received activity sheets including “cow-culations,”
“soybean math” and “cotton calculations”
each of which uses basic math applications to help children develop
their thinking skills.
“If you can get children excited about something, then you
can teach them anything--math, science, social studies,”
Mrs. Blonk said. “We want teachers to teach smarter, not
harder.”
Teachers enjoyed hand-on projects under Mrs. Blonk’s direction
as they made dirt babies, homemade ice cream in a freezer bag
and hand puppets from a glove.
“I’m really excited,” said Emily Harbin, a kindergarten
teacher at Owens Elementary in Limestone County. “We’ve
learned a lot of activities we can take back and do with our
kids. I can’t wait to get back and get started.”
“I will use every one of these activities in my classroom,”
said Jean Jackson, a first grade teacher at Ruhama Elementary
in DeKalb County.
Mrs. Jackson said the Institute’s field trips were invaluable.
“Because we were actually on the farms and received hands-on
experience, we have prior knowledge of our subject matter that
will empower us to be better teachers.”
“That’s important,” she said, “because kids
today don’t know what farmers do.”
“We live in a rural community, and when I ask my first graders
if they know where milk and eggs come from, they say the grocery
store,” she continued. “That bothers me. We should
all know where our food comes from and not take it for granted.”
Mrs. Blonk says that’s exactly why agriculture must be taught
in every Alabama classroom
“We have lost our appreciation for farming in this country
because we’ve never had to go hungry,” she said. “If
we ever went to the grocery stores and found the shelves empty,
we might have more appreciation for farmers.”
“We cannot have an ag-less day. It’s all around us--everything
we eat and wear depends on agriculture. We need to catch children
when they’re little with this message, because what they
hear when they’re young really stays with them.”
Amy Childress, a kindergarten teacher at Plainview Elementary
and a member of the DeKalb County Young Farmers, said she is
proud of the Federation for supporting Ag in the Classroom.
“I want my children to fully understand and to know the
nice clothes they wear, the safe foods they enjoy, the chair
they sit in, the pencil and paper they use all started on a farm,”
she said. “Children today need to understand where consumer
products come from other than Wal-Mart and the mall. Everything
they come in contact with goes back to a farmer. This wonderful
informative workshop has given me extra skills I can take back
and use in my classroom.”
Teachers were selected based on an application process and received
a full scholarship to attend the Institute. Their lodging, meals,
and materials were provided by the Federation and additional
sponsors, including the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association,
the Alabama Catfish Producers, the Alabama Pork Producers and
the Alabama Poultry and Egg Association.
Mrs. Jackson said she enjoyed the Institute so much she hopes
to come back next year. “We will all be better teachers
after coming here this week,” she said.
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