logo

 

Join Our Mailing List
Find us on FacebookFollow us on Twitter
Do You Know an Outstanding Volunteer or Volunteering Program?
If you know of people or organizations that have made exceptional volunteering efforts to educate about agriculture, the Foundation wants to hear about it. Email us your story at [email protected] and include some pictures for us to use OR Nominate them at www.agfoundation.org, under What We Support-Volunteers. 
 
Celebrating an Inspiring Volunteer: Martha Cripe   

The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture would like to recognize and celebrate the great volunteering efforts of Martha Cripe of Fayette County Farm Bureau, IL.

 

Over the last 5 years Martha has been taking the time to bring the message of agriculture to students and teachers across the county. She organizes classroom presentations and community outreach, as well as fundraising to provide supplies for the program. Since reinvigorating the Fayette County AITC Program, Martha has impacted the lives of over 3,000 students.  

 

Martha says that "Working with students brings all kinds of personalities and experiences together. It makes the learning process so interesting and fun for all involved."

 

Martha's believes her most memorable presentation is "Touch a Tractor." "My husband, son or Farm Bureau board member supplies a tractor for the class. We watch a movie showing the equipment used in the preparation of the soil for planting, growing and harvesting vegetables and field crops. We also talk about farm safety. The students then explore all the parts of the tractor. This is the first time for most of the students to touch a tractor. The looks on their faces and comments they make about the size of the tractor and looking out of the cab is amazing!"

 

 

 

Martha also believes agriculture education is very important for students to learn where their food comes from, how and where it is grown, who and what is involved in the production, transportation and processing. "So when the students go to a fast food drive-thru to pick up that hamburger that takes five minutes, they know where all the parts of the burger come from and who had a hand in it."

 

This year Martha has been working on a corn unit where the younger students will experiment with corn starch packing noodles and the older students will make biodegradable corn plastic.  They will study the water cycle and how farmers manage natural resources. Additional presentations will consist of the study of fibers and clothing made from wool and cotton, poultry and pork in conjunction with Dr. Seuss and in the spring- soils, germination and specialty crops. With all of these presentations Martha plans to reach over 620 students this year alone.  

   

Thank you so much Martha Cripe for your outstanding efforts to educate about agriculture! If you know someone who should be recognized email us at [email protected].