Nourish the Future initiative reaches national network of teachers
Above: Throughout the summer, science teachers from across the country got the chance to sharpen their agriculture skills, thanks to the Nourish the Future initiative.
Thanks in part to corn farmers in Minnesota and across the country, U.S. science teachers had the chance to sharpen their agriculture-related teaching skills this summer.
Nourish the Future is an agriculture-education initiative that was developed by the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and the organization educationprojects.org.
Throughout the summer, Nourish the Future hosted workshops for educators across the U.S. who are interested in learning more about teaching agriculture. That included a biotechnology workshop in Fargo, N.D., that was co-sponsored by Minnesota Corn. Teachers learned about plant science, pollination and more.
Robyn Allscheid, director of research and productivity at NCGA, said in a statement that the workshops help “inspire cutting-edge [science, technology, engineering and math] curricula and, in turn, inspire students to consider careers in ag.”
In addition to the summer workshops, Nourish the Future provides teachers with free professional development, and it has created free, standards-based agriculture lessons on everything from biotechnology to ethanol.
For the past two school years, the initiative has selected a group of middle and high school teachers from across the country for a national professional-development program. Participants network with other educators who teach agriculture, design curriculum and are given access to new educational resources.
Amy Mastin is a middle and high school science teacher in the 295-student Kelliher School District in Beltrami County. She is the first Minnesota teacher to participate in the program.
Mastin teaches two agriculture classes, including one where students raise and manage a small herd of cattle. She appreciates connecting with other teachers who are passionate about agriculture, and she has been able to immediately use lessons the initiative has offered in webinars.
“Anytime you can walk away with something from a webinar, that’s a good day,” she said.
Nourish the Future is now accepting applications for its 2022 teacher cohort. To learn more about upcoming Nourish the Future events, visit nourishthefuture.org/events.
