By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Summer break has just started for most students, but the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) is already making plans for the coming school year as it takes reservations for “Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky.”

This program uses fun and entertainment as a way to teach schoolchildren the origin of their food, and is one of many from KDA’s Division of Agriculture Education, Farm Safety and Farmland Preservation. It is sponsored by the Kentucky Soybean Board.

COSI (Center of Science and Industry) on Wheels, a program of the COSI science museum in Columbus, Ohio, produces the show, which supports Kentucky’s Core Content for Science Assessment standards. The program will launch its third season next month.

One part of the day-long event uses skits and characters to tell educational stories – such as “Lunch Room Live” with Chef Parmesan and Derby the Talking Horse, who explain to a school assembly the process of learning where pizza comes from, starting with soil as the first ingredient. As they go through the explanation, students also learn about field preparation, photosynthesis, wheat processing and cheese production.

Afterwards, students make their way through a series of workstations where they participate in activities such as milking a fiberglass cow, grinding wheat into flour and testing soil samples for pH levels.

“‘Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky’ uses a fun and entertaining program to teach Kentucky schoolchildren about where their food comes from,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “It also provides opportunities for hands-on, inquiry-based learning.

“Thousands of children have benefited from participating in this program over the past two years,” he added.

Rayetta Boone heads up the program for KDA and said it has enjoyed great success so far.

“The ‘Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky’ has been a huge success for us in promoting agriculture literacy,” she said. “COSI has been in this business for over 40 years and brings a great deal of creditability to our educational efforts.”

Boone said the program has visited 206 schools in 96 different counties over the last two years, reaching more than 77,000 students.

Darleen Horton of Chenoweth Elementary School in Louisville said, after seeing the program, “Our students were more attentive and engaged than in any other program we’ve had. ‘Agriculture Adventures’ was amazing.”

“We have one more year left, the 2007-08 school year, to have the ‘Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky’ program available to schools,” said Boone. “I encourage anyone interested in reserving the program to call as soon as possible to make sure they get the date they need.”

School administrators may make a reservation for “Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky” by calling COSI toll-free at 888-819-2674, ext. 1703, or by completing the online reservation form.

They also may download the reservation form, fill it out and fax it to 614-629-3226 or mail it to COSI, Attn: Outreach Reservations, 333 W. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43215.

For more information or to access the reservation form, visit www.kyagr.com/marketing/ageducation/ education.htm and click on “Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky.”