Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom News 
May 2015

 

Juanita Reed-Boniface
Juanita Reed-Boniface 
Juanita Reed-Boniface wins National Ag Advocate Award!

The Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom Program (MAITC) is excited to announce that Juanita Reed-Boniface from Cedar, MN has won the National Agriculture in the Classroom Ag Advocate Award! This award is presented to one volunteer educator who gives freely of his or her time promoting agricultural literacy for children in PreK-12th grade, integrating information about the food and agricultural system and helping students understand the important role agriculture plays in their lives. Congratulations Juanita!   

In This Issue
Teacher Feature 
Juanita Reed-Boniface
Life-long educator and advocate for agriculture!
  

Ms. Reed-Boniface has been an outstanding volunteer educator and supporter of MAITC for thirty years!   We know that Juanita is a VERY deserving recipient of the National Ag in the Classroom Ag Advocate Award.  

When asked when she began her involvement with agricultural literacy education Juanita answered:  I guess I've always advocated for agriculture and learning all my life.  I have themes that I wrote in grade school about living in the Nebraska Sandhills and living on a farm. My high school original oratory was title "The Heritage We Hold" which focused on agriculture and particularly the land. 

MAITC Program Director Al Withers states "I have witnessed Juanita as a gracious professional when advocating for increased agricultural literacy. We greatly value her contributions to agriculture and education."

Juanita reading to children
 
Summer Teacher Tour 
The Many Faces of Minnesota Agriculture

MAITC is thrilled to offer a summer tour that allows educators to get a first-hand look into the world of agriculture. Tour stops include a multi-family crop and livestock farm, Hmong farming partnership, Urban Organics Aquaponics and Second Harvest Heartland.  Register today!

Urgan organics aquaponics system
Urban Organics Aquaponics in St. Paul is one of the Summer Teacher Tour stops.
MAITC Teacher Champions     
MAITC enjoyed working with Teacher Champions at Cedar Park Elementary STEM School in Apple Valley, Meadowview Elementary School in Farmington, and St. Michael Catholic School in Prior Lake during the 2014-2015 school year!  If you would like more information on this program or to nominate your school and potential Teacher Champions, please contact MAITC!      
Paul and Ruth Lanoue Skype with first graders
Paul and Ruth Lanoue Skype with students at Cedar Park Elementary from their farm in Marshall, MN
Fantastic Resources
  Ag Serving Science an Society table of contents
Agriculture: Serving Science and Society Video Stories
Explore the 34 video stories that provide insight into Minnesota farm families and the significant role that agriculture plays in our daily lives.
http://www.mda.state.mn.us/kids/videostories.aspx
 
The Growing ClassroomThe Growing Classroom
This Growing Classroom resource book for educators contains 480 pages of science, math, language arts, and nutrition activities that you can do with your students in the garden. A searchable online database, developed by Life Lab in California, cross-maps each activity to Next Generation Science and Common Core Math  and English Language Arts Standards.
http://www.lifelab.org/2013/12/content-standards/
 
Minnesota Turkey Growers Association Website
Learn more about the 450 Minnesota farm families who raise 46 million turkeys annually.  This website also offers factual information about avian inflMinnesota Turkey Growers Logouenza and its impact on our turkey growers and consumers.
http://minnesotaturkey.com
Agricultural Trivia
  
Congratulations to Carrie Allord, for being the first person to respond with the correct answer to our April trivia question.  She knew that the scientific name for soybeans is Glycine max.  Rounding out the Top Ten first responders were: Katrina Bender, Chrissie TenEyck, Kristen Gustafson, Tracy Huhn, Jen Schoenfeld, Michele Melius, Mark Wackerfuss, Gretchen Bohl, and Tammy Moon.
 
May Trivia
The first person to email the correct answer for the question below will win a copy of the children's book Who Grew My Soup?
Who is the newly elected 2015-16 MN FFA State President? 

Email your answer to  Sue Knott to be eligible for the prize!