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Teacher of the Year: Ag knowledge a ‘skill that they can use for the rest of their lives’

From urban agriculture and hydroponics to livestock and crop production, Manzke finds unique opportunities to integrate agriculture into her classroom.

By Kay Shipman
FarmWeek
Nov 6, 2022

Excerpt:

“My students have benefitted by just learning what agriculture is in general,” Manzke told FarmWeek. “They have a better overall understanding that farmers in Illinois and in the U.S. are feeding America and beyond. When going over a unit on dairy, students in fifth grade still believe that brown cows produce chocolate milk. But in just a few months in our Body, Agriculture and Mind program, the 35 students have learned their food is grown, and it doesn’t just come on a shelf of a grocery store by magic.”

Her students also learn about an ag connection that is nearby. Ingredion, a multi-national ingredient provider whose large plant where many of their parents work is located across the street.

“A lot of the students will talk about how bad the smell is when the corn actually burns,” she said. “It is a wonderful opportunity to get into the curriculum both corn and transportation to help them better understand what is happening there.

“The local impact is all over our small town from semi-trucks dropping off loads to the parents who work down at the plant to provide for their family,” she continued. “Ingredion is linked to all the railroads in the area. It is easy to talk about community and community workers. We have parents who work at Ingredion, and most students at first do not even know it is there. Later they understand that it is helping the community by making food products with the help of their parents.”

Read the complete article here.