By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent PEORIA, Ill. — The Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford and Marshall-Putnam County farm bureaus are sponsoring the 2008 Summer Agriculture Institute for area teachers who are interested in bringing a little of the farm life into their classrooms.
Designed for kindergarten through high school educators, classroom sessions will be held at Illinois Central College (ICC)’s East Peoria campus from June 9-13.
“The institute is designed to help educators who want to integrate agriculture into their class curriculum,” said Patrick Kirchhofer, manager of the Peoria County Farm Bureau (PCFB).
Sessions will allow teachers a better understanding of the complexity and scope of Illinois agriculture, and its impact on individuals and the economy.
“The ag institute is awesome,” said Beth Bowers, a third-grade teacher at Peoria’s Kingman Elementary School who took the course in 2007. “I’m a city girl born and raised, and I really needed to understand how things are produced. Every day was something new and different.”
Bowers said before she took the course, she had no idea sweet corn and feed corn were two different items, or even how corn is produced.
“Now I can tell the kids how corn goes from the field to the table. I was in awe of some of the things I learned,” she said. “You know, a lot of inner-city kids don’t even really know what a cow is.
“I would recommend the ag institute to any teacher who might think they want to have agriculture in their classroom. All of the instructors were very forthcoming and answered all of our questions.”
The course includes field trips to family farms and agribusinesses including beef, dairy, horse and turkey farms, a large animal veterinary facility, wind energy farm, sod farm, apple orchard and the USDA regional ag lab (NCAUR) in Peoria. ICC’s research plots and horticulture facility will also be toured.
The fee for the five-day course is $125. Fees include materials, meals and transportation to and from the field trips. Participants can receive graduate credit through Aurora College at a rate of $225 for three credit hours.
Enrollment will be limited to 24 teachers and applications are due at the PCFB office by May 1. Call the PCFB at 309-686-7070 for more information.
This farm news was published in the April 16, 2008 issue of the Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
