Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) is a nationwide program to educate school children about agriculture.
In Nebraska, AITC is a program of the Nebraska Foundation
for Agricultural Awareness, a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization
with headquarters at the Nebraska Farm Bureau in Lincoln.
Nebraska's Agriculture in the Classroom
program emphasizes working with teachers to show them ways
to use agriculture as the vehicle to meet State Content Standards.
As new resources are developed, the State Content Standards
that are achieved with each activity or lesson are listed
according to basic subject areas.
AITC uses an integrated learning approach,
with concepts taught in a single activity reaching into several
different classroom subject areas. In addition, it emphasizes
hands-on learning for students.
The AITC program has three main components:
Teacher Education through Summer
Workshops for graduate credit, PreService Presentations to
undergraduate education majors, and In-Service Sessions tailored
for teachers in a particular school building or district.
Teacher of the Year recognition is given annually to two Nebraska certified teachers who use creativity in bringing agriculture into their classrooms while achieving Nebraska State Content standards. Nomination forms can be obtained from this link.
Educational Resources that make it
easy for teachers to bring agriculture into their classrooms.
Step-by-step "how-tos" show how to set up, conduct
and follow-up learning activities. Resources
also include books, games, maps and center activities (click
here for an order form).
All certified Nebraska K-12 teachers are eligible to apply for a mini-grant of up to $200 for school year 2008-09, for expenses of a project that uses agriculture as the vehicle to meet the Nebraska Content Standards.
View
Our Crop & Livestock Cards
Ag Pen Pals links classrooms and farm families from across Nebraska. Farmers
and ranchers exchange letters with school children. The farm
families explain what they do, why and how at the various
seasons of the year. They write the first letter and the school
children write back with their questions. The farm families
answer the questions and the letters go back and forth. Farm
families and classes commit to writing at least three times
during the school year, but many write much more frequently.
And often, the farm or ranch family will visit the school,
usually in the spring.
Currently, the Ag Pen Pals program involves
Omaha, Lincoln, Kearney and Grand Island classrooms, but farm
and ranch pen pals are needed from across Nebraska. If you'd
like more information about participating, please call our
toll-free number.
For more information, or to volunteer, telephone (800) 546-3496.
Click here for the National Agriculture in the Classroom Web site.
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