Tag: Illinois

LeRoy Teacher wins State Award

Katie Buckley, LeRoy Junior High School Science, Technology,Engineering and Math Educator,was named the 2018 Illinois Ag in the Classroom Teacher of the Year Runner-Up.

She was recognized for her achievements at the Illinois Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in Chicago Dec. 1.

For the past two years, students in Buckley’s STEM Exploratory Class have completed food and farming based learning projects called Purple Plow Challenges.

Her class won the nationwide challenge in 2017 and again in 2018. Buckley is also an alum of the American Farm Bureau STEM on the Farm Program, which gave her the opportunity to travel to Oregon for hands-on and on-farm learning about beef cattle production.

Buckley is a past winner of the McLean County Maitland Agricultural Awareness and McLean County Farm Bureau Ag Science grants.

You can follow Buckley and her students on Twitter @LeRoySTEM to see what they’re learning.

As the Runner Up, Buckley will be Illinois Farm Bureau’s nominee for the American Farm Bureau White-Reinhardt Scholarship.

Ten Local Teachers Get AITC Grants

Ten McLean County teachers will receive grant funding from Illinois Ag in the Classroom to add books and projects related to food and farming to their curriculum.

Recipients include:

  • Jennifer Burns, Carlock, Project Grant: “Ag Bags of Books”
  • Jason Wynn, Colene Hoose, Biographies Book Grant
  • Kelly Reardon, Fox Creek, Project Grant: “From Farm to Table”
  • Lori Stuart, LeRoy Elementary, Biographies Book Grant
  • Robert Harrison, Oakdale, Graphic Novels Book Grant
  • Shawn Schwerman, Parkside Jr. High, Graphic Novels Book Grant
  • Jennifer Corbly, Pepper Ridge, Project Grant: “Decomposing & Composting”
  • Suzanne Schertz, Prairieland, Graphic Novels Book Grant
  • Katie Sandage, Stevenson, Graphic Novels Book Grant
  • Tina Thomas, Stevenson, Biographies Book Grant

The grants offer teachers the opportunity to expand their libraries with accurate ag books or purchase supplies for lesson plans related to food and farming.

The Biographies Book Grant allowed teachers to select from titles about Henry Ford, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Deere or George Washington Carver.

The ag-related graphic novels available through the grant covered the Dust Bowl, pasteurization, Levi Strauss and George Washington Carver.

The Illinois Ag in the Classroom teacher grants are offered annually thanks to funding from the IAA Foundation, the charitable arm of Illinois Farm Bureau.

Farm Fresh Answers: Young Farmer’s Perspective

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Growing up on a family farm and getting involved at a young age inspired a passion for agriculture for McLean County farmer Justin Maitland.

Check out the challenges and opportunities he sees on the horizon as he looks to continue the tradition of farming for his family.

Click below to listen to the segment and be sure to check out the Farm to Table segment every Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. on WJBC radio.

Farm Fresh Podcast: Farm Hats

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Blunier_felfie

Farmers can literally and figuratively wear a lot of different hats in a day. About a year ago, the thought inspired Livingston County farmer, Kent Blunier, to create Facebook group called “Farm Hats.”

The idea took root and quickly grew to include farmers from around the world who post “felfies” or farmer-selfies about their day to day activities and what ‘hat’ they might be wearing.

Get the story from the farmer who got the ball rolling in this week’s Farm Fresh Podcast. Plus listen every Wednesday at 12:45 for the Farm to Table segment onWJBC Radio. Plus make sure you check out the Farm Hats group on Facebook!

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