MAITC Announces Ag Literacy Grant Recipients

Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom (MAITC) and the MATIC Foundation have announced the recipients of this year’s Agricultural Literacy Grants. Grants of up to $1,000 were awarded to one 4-H program, two FFA chapters, and 11 teachers to encourage them to make agriculture and food systems education part of school curricula.

“We want all of Minnesota’s students to value agriculture in their everyday lives,” said Assistant Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Andrea Vaubel.

“Each of the Ag Literacy Grant projects aim to do just that by providing students with unique learning experiences or resources that use agriculture to support learning in other subjects, too.

Congratulations to each of the awardees!” Projects will utilize funds in a variety of ways and support agricultural literacy for students ranging from kindergarten through high school.

The Freeborn County 4-H Program plans to purchase incubator and chick brooder kits for a Hatching Science Project, which will introduce nearly 200 students from four different elementary schools to embryology.

Elizabeth Ziemann of Greenvale Park (Northfield, MN) will also use funds to purchase Hatching Science materials and will take students on a field trip to a dairy farm.

And fourth graders in the Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg district will receive the complete MAITC Book Bundle, featuring agricultural themed books like Fantastic Farm Machines, Cattle Kids: A Year on the Western Range, and The Honey Makers.

The MAITC Ag Literacy Grant recipients are:

• Montevideo FFA: $1,000, 4th Grade Ag Presentations
• Freeborn County 4-H: $540, Hatching Science Project
• Detroit Lakes FFA: $1,000, Monthly Ag Lessons at Elementary School
• Duluth East High School: $630, Tomato Man Project for Kindergartners
• Apple Valley Cedar Park Elementary School: $1,000, Phase Two of Ag and Energy Lab
• Kelliher Elementary School: $1,000, 4th Grade Grow Lab
• Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg Public Schools: $250, MAITC Book Bundles
• Linwood Monroe Arts Plus: $468, Oliver Kelley Farm Field Trip
• Bluff Creek Elementary School: $1,000, Sprouting Curiosity, Sharing Green
• Carver East Union Elementary School: $1,000, Farm Field Trip and Monthly Ag Day Supplies
• Minnetonka Academy of Whole Learning: $450, Farm Field Trip
• Laporte Community Education: $860, Farmer Trading Cards, Community Tasting Event, and Student Athlete Healthy Foods Posters
• Northfield Greenvale Park: $350, Hatching Science Project
• Northfield Greenvale Park: $450, Dairy Farm Field Trip

For more information about Ag Literacy Grants, visit the MAITC website or contact Sue Knott at 651-201-6486.

About Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom (MAITC)

MAITC’s mission is to increase agricultural literacy through K-12 education. An agriculturally literate person is defined as someone who understands and can communicate the source and value of agriculture as it affects our quality of life. MAITC seeks to improve student achievement by applying authentic, agricultural-based content as the context to teach core curriculum concepts in science, social studies, language arts and nutrition.

By encouraging teachers to embed agriculture into their classroom, MAITC cultivates an understanding and appreciation of the food and fiber systems that we all rely on every day.