New York Agriculture in the Classroom | March 2024 | |
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New York Agriculture in the Classroom
Agricultural Literacy Grant Applications Open
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The Agricultural Literacy Grant was created to help fund your most creative ideas to teach through a lens of agriculture. Submit your great idea to enhance your classroom learning and let New York Agriculture in the Classroom support your endeavor to include agriculture as a context for learning!
An Agricultural Literacy Grant proposal can be anywhere between $10 to a maximum of $1,200. Proposals for the Agricultural Literacy Grant can include, but are not limited to: funding for farm field trips, purchasing agriculturally accurate books, materials for classroom projects, starting a courtyard chicken coop, expanding your school garden project, and more.
Grant proposals will be reviewed bi-weekly until March 29, 2024, or until funding is exhausted. It is suggested to submit your application early!
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Upcoming Events and Important Dates |
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MAR 7
NYAITC Conference Scholarship Applications Due
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MAR 21
Mind Your Beeswax PD in Brooklyn, NY
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MAR 29
Agricultural Literacy Grant Applications Due
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NOV 21-22
NY Farm to School Summit 2024
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National Conference Scholarship Applications Open Until March 7th
New York Agriculture in the Classroom is looking forward to again supporting teachers to attend the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference.
Teachers from across the state will be selected and supported by New York Agriculture in the Classroom for a full conference scholarship. The conference will bring together teachers from across the country to learn from skilled presenters, engaging keynote speakers, and from one another.
The scholarship includes double occupancy hotel accommodations, round-trip flight, up to 28 hours of CTLE professional development credit, additional teacher and classroom resources from New York Agriculture in the Classroom, and more!
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. It is suggested to submit your application early. Applications will be accepted until 11:59pm on Thursday, March 7, 2024.
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The National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference will be held June 24-27, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah | |
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Mind Your Own Beeswax Educator Workshop in Brooklyn, New York
Open to grade 5 and up STEM, CTE, and related teachers in the NYC metro area.
Join New York Agriculture in the Classroom to dive into the fascinating world of honey bees and their second-most popular byproduct, beeswax. Participants will explore the challenge of excess beeswax in honey extraction and will engage in an activity to transform this byproduct into a marketable item.
Participants will make, package, and label a beeswax lip balm prototype using the provided materials. The finished lip balm will be packaged in tubes, with teams designing labels and developing a marketing plan for their product. After the activity, participants will reflect on what they experienced and discuss ways that they can explore the lesson with their students.
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March 21, 2024
4:30 – 6:30 pm
Shirley Chisolm State Office Building
55 Hanson Place, Brooklyn NY 11217
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Save the Date: NY Farm to School Summit 2024
The Inaugural NY Farm to School Summit will take place in Syracuse, NY on November 21st and 22nd, 2024 with optional pre-summit field trips on November 20th. The Summit will have sessions for all Farm to School stakeholders including farmers and producers, food service directors, educators, school administrators, and more! The sessions will be wide-ranging and suitable for stakeholders just starting out in their Farm to School journeys, or those who have been working in the field for many years.
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Agricultural Literacy Week 2024
Agricultural Literacy Week is almost here! The week of March 18-22, 2024, in celebration of New York agriculture, volunteers throughout the state will read a book with an agricultural theme to second graders. Students and teachers will also benefit from hands-on lessons and receive follow up activities. A copy of I LOVE Strawberries! will be donated to the school or classroom library with a bookplate recognizing the donor and New York Agricultural Literacy Week. Over 2,800 books were donated last year while thousands of second graders participated in fun and educational activities.
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Maple Virtual Field Trip
To learn how sugar makers use and depend on many of concepts that are taught in the classroom, join us for a virtual field trip to Cornell Maple Research Facility at Arnot Forest. In this 40-minute experience, Director of Cornell Maple Program and maple researcher, Aaron Wightman will share the process of maple syrup production, the latest maple research, careers within the maple industry, and how scientists at Cornell's maple program help producers develop new maple-based products.
Inquiry boxes will be provided to the first 100 classrooms to register.
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March 14, 2024
10 am and 12:30pm
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NEW! Spring Top Cut Beef Experience
The Top Cut: Beef Contest is an engaging cross-curricular educational and culinary experience for grades 6-12. Participating students will design a beef recipe focused on the theme of school lunch and then develop a creative marketing strategy for their product. New York Agriculture in the Classroom and New York Beef Council are excited to offer this experience for the seventh year.
NEW! New this year is an updated format. The Top Cut Beef Experience will be offered in both the fall and spring so that teachers with classes that switch out each semester may participate with all of their classes. The experience will no longer require pre-registration to participate and each teacher that has students submit a completed entry will receive a prize for their classroom.
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Find updated resources on our website that will help you implement this contest in your classroom. | |
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Harvest NY is Hiring
CCE Harvest NY is hiring a Statewide Farm to School Education Specialist. The Harvest New York Farm to Institution Program strives to strengthen New York’s food and farming industry and to increase school and institutional knowledge of New York's agriculture, food systems, and nutrition. This position will deliver high-quality educational programs, workshops, and events on the benefits of healthy eating. Additionally, this role will identify model farm-to-school education programs that align with Harvest New York's goals.
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New School Teams Encouraged to Apply for New York Farm to School Institute
The New York Farm to School Institute is a year-long professional development opportunity for food service staff, educators, administrators, and community partners in New York schools to develop and refine their Farm to School programs and to help bring more New York grown food into the cafeteria and classroom. Led by the Farm to Institution New York State (FINYS) team at American Farmland Trust, this ongoing training and educational program will assist participating schools in creating successful Farm to School programs and connecting with farmers.
The program kicks off with a two-day Summer Retreat at Mabee Farm Historic Site on August 13-14, 2024, offers coaching support for the entire school year, and provides a $5,000 stipend to school teams to facilitate successful implementation of a farm to school action plan!
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Application deadline extended to March 15, 2024. | | |
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Grades 3-5
Oilseed Crops
Students will investigate a variety of oilseed crops, discover how and where they are grown, and explore their nutritional benefits in this new lesson.
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Grades 6-8
Enlightened Concessions
Through project-based learning, students conduct surveys with their peers at school about healthy food products they think will be marketable for school concessions. Based on surveys and research, they choose an in-demand product to test in class and then present to a guest panel as a healthy choice.
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Grades 9-12
Journey 2050 Lesson 1: Sustainable Agriculture
In this lesson, students will explore the question, “How will we sustainably feed nearly 10 billion people by the year 2050?” as they discover what sustainable agriculture is and how it is critical to securing a stable food supply and future for a growing population.
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Give Bees a Chance
Not sure whether to high-five bees or run away from them? Well, maybe you shouldn't high-five them, but you definitely don't have to run away from them. Give Bees a Chance is for anyone who doesn't quite appreciate how extra special and important bees are to the world, and even to humankind. Besides making yummy honey, they help plants grow fruits and vegetables. And most bees wouldn't hurt a fly (unless it was in self-defense.) With bees officially on the endangered animals list, it's more important now than ever to get on board with our flying, honey-making friends.
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One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference
Inspired by true events, One Hen tells the story of Kojo, a boy from Ghana who turns a small loan into a thriving farm and a livelihood for many. After his father died, Kojo had to quit school to help his mother collect firewood to sell at the market. When his mother receives a loan from some village families, she gives a little money to her son. With this tiny loan, Kojo buys a hen. A year later, Kojo has built up a flock of 25 hens. With his earnings, Kojo is able to return to school, and soon Kojo's farm grows to become the largest in the region.
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