The Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation has awarded 175 grants to schools across Iowa, including a several locally, to bolster the integration of agriculture into classroom instruction or after-school programs with an academic focus.
The Agriculture in the Classroom Teacher Supplement Grants are designed to help teachers initiate new projects and/or expand upon existing programs that promote agriculture literacy in students. Grants can be used to fund innovative lessons, activities, classroom resources, guest speakers, outreach programs, field trips, and other projects. Teachers received up to 250 dollars to fund their projects.
Local grants were awarded to Albert City Truesdale teachers Bradi Sievers and Rebekah Spragg…Newell Fonda teachers Julie Sievers, Lisa Christensen, Courtney Darrow, Abby Gruhn, Susan Hess, Whitney McKeever, and Kayla Wingert…Joan Sohm of OA-BCIG…and Katie Bush and Tiffany Walbaum, both with South Central Calhoun.
The grants are made possible through support from the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation. The projects are slated to be completed before the end of the school year.