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May 2025 | Issue #164
*make sure to click "View entire message" to get access to the full newsletter!*
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LAST CALL - Maine School Garden Day | | | |
Registration for Maine School Garden Day closes soon!
Join us for a day of great workshops, community and conversation; including a special visit and workshop with author of Farmer Eva's Green Garden Life, Jacqueline Briggs Martin!
Full agenda and details can be found on the event page. 6.5 Contact Hours for educators.
Learn more and register here.
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Join one of Maine TREE’s most popular and long-running programs—Forests of Maine Teachers’ Tours!
These immersive four-day experiences give educators a firsthand look at the growth, harvest, and processing of Maine’s forest resources, guided by professionals working in the woods.
Earn up to 30 contact hours toward your teacher recertification while connecting with fellow educators and gaining valuable insights to bring back to your classroom or program.
Rangeley Lakes Region: July 8–11
Downeast Lakes Region: July 22–25
Spots fill quickly—apply today to secure your spot!
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Easton FFA Visits the Capital | | | |
Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day and KidsGardening share a belief that the garden has the power to do more than grow flowers and herbs. It can grow people, communities, and even kindness, too. Together, we designed the Lots of Compassion Grant program to support local leaders looking to transform vacant lots into gardens to help grow compassion in their community. In 2025, 10 grantees will receive $20,000 each to transform a vacant lot into a garden. A total of $200,000 will be awarded annually.
The deadline for application submission is Monday, June 16, 2025, at 11:59 PM PT.
Find more information here or click here to apply.
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Virtual Read ME Recording | | | Did you miss Read ME Agriculture this year? Don't worry - MAITC has you covered! Farmer Eva's Green Garden Life author Jacqueline Briggs Martin was kind enough to do some virtual reading for us this year, and we recorded it just for you! Click the video above, or visit the Teach Me About Food and Farms videos page to watch any time you'd like. | | |
Harvest of the Month - May is Wild Blueberries! | | | |
Lessons
Agriculture Pays. Grades K-2. Students discover that agricultural careers are interconnected and that agriculture influences many parts of their daily lives.
Eating Plants. Grades K-2. Students identify the structure and function of six plant parts and classify fruits and vegetables according to which parts of the plants are edible.
Fabulous Flowers. Grades K-2. The students examine the functions of flowers and determine that some flowers are edible.
Find Your Future Ag Career. Grades 3-5. Students discover the variety of agricultural careers available and consider their career paths in terms of economics, interests, and suitability to their personal talents and characteristics.
Vegetables: Tops and Bottoms. Grades 3-5. Students investigate a variety of vegetables, discover how and where they are grown, and explore their nutritional benefits.
Career Gaming. Grades 6-8. Through project-based learning, students will design games that will assist others with identifying a variety of agricultural careers, possible emerging agricultural careers, the education required for agricultural career options, and the types of salaries that can be expected in each career.
Mind Your Own Beeswax. Grades 6-8. Through project-based learning, students solve the problem of excess beeswax, a byproduct of honey bees, by developing a useful beeswax product and marketing their product to be sold in a local boutique or farmers market.
Growing Aspirations Lessons. Grades 6-12. These lessons feature activities aimed to help youth identify and develop habits of mind, learn about the multi-faceted Maine Food System, and develop career aspirations and identify training and education pathways for reaching their goals.
Preservation Power of Honey. Grades 9-12. Students will expand their knowledge of microbial growth and scientific food preservation methods to learn how honey can serve as an antibacterial agent. Students will learn how honey may be used as a preservative of milk in areas without access to electricity or refrigeration and how this preservation method relies on elements found specifically in honey that cannot be replicated with other sources of sugar.
Looking for more? Explore the Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix HERE
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Resources
National FFA AgExplorer. AgExplorer is a comprehensive career resource to help you explore the broad range of careers within the industry of agriculture. The industry of agriculture can open up a world of possibilities, and the demand for professionals in every agricultural area is high. Learn more about which career might be right for you by watching the videos, exploring the career pages, and completing the Career Finder interactive quiz.
UMaine Cooperative Extension 4-H Toolkit - Growing Aspirations: Careers in the Maine Food System. Developed by a team of family and consumer science teachers and 4-H staff as part of the Maine Ag in the Classroom program, this kit features activities aimed to help youth identify and develop habits of mind, learn about the multi-faceted Maine Food System, and develop career aspirations and identify training and education pathways for reaching their goals. These activities incorporate videos from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Growing Maine project featuring Maine families and their stories of developing successful businesses.
How Many Hats Does a Farmer Wear? This elementary activity illustrates the wide array of career paths available in agriculture. Students will create a paper "pinwheel" illustration of the many hats that farmers wear.
Careers in Agriculture Module. This module touches on educating students about the hundreds of jobs within the agriculture industry and the importance that they have on our daily lives. It also goes on to teach how students can go on to be involved in agriculture themselves.
Purple Plow Puzzler: Careers in Agriculture. Create a “go fish” card game using careers from the nine ag career focus areas.
Field to Film Career Snapshots. Explore more than 20 agriculture-related careers with these "snapshot" videos. The video playlist features careers on the farm as well as many others in sales, technology, education, and more.
Careers in Agriculture. A secondary level e-book designed as a guide for students and young people considering their career opportunities by presenting them with a current, in-depth, thorough, and real view of the agricultural industry. Each page is equipped with interactive links to videos, further reading, and more.
Adventures in Agriculture Coloring Book. Get a glimpse inside some of the STEM career paths available in agriculture and see women in STEM. Edition 1 is available in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Edition 2 is available in English and Spanish.
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Funding from this plate has impacted up to 200,000 students annually with lessons, materials, volunteers and teacher training. Annually up to $60K is distributed in grants to schools, FFA, 4-H and other Non-profit programs for Ag education initiatives by the Maine Agriculture in the Classroom Council.
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Donate today to The Maine Agriculture in the Classroom Association. The nonprofit, completely volunteer, portion of MAITC. These funds are used directly to support teacher scholarships and recognition, and support volunteer participation for Ag education programs. Your donation is completely tax deductible and you can make a one-time donation or a recurring monthly donation which will support the mission, "to promote the understanding of agriculture and natural resources among students, educators, and the general public." If you have any other questions or would like to join this group please contact the chairman, Laurie Bowen. Donate Here.
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The MAITC Association is organizing a fundraiser for materials and teacher scholarships this year. Hats and T-shirts with the MAITC logo and a picture of the agriculture specialty license plate are available to order for a small donation.
For more information contact Nancy Wright at dnwright191@gmail.com
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Our Mission Statement
"To promote the understanding of agriculture and natural resources among students, educators, and the general public"
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28 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
(207)287-5522
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