Farm Bureau grant recipients!

Heather Ainsley
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Last year, 83 teachers across Florida were awarded grant funding from the Florida Farm Bureau for agricultural projects in the classroom. The Mini-Grant Program is part of the Florida Farm Bureau Women's Leadership Committee's commitment to support agricultural education. The Florida Farm Bureau has awarded more than $250,000 total in grants geared toward promoting agriculture in schools since the program's inception in 1998.
This fall, two north Florida teachers were awarded mini-grants for $250. The teachers, Jennifer Yoshioka and Stefanie Prevatt, were awarded money that can be used for an agricultural project for their class, which can range from purchasing books about agriculture to starting a class garden.
Stefanie Prevatt is a teacher at Jefferson Somerset, and teaches Agriculture on a high school level. She plans on using the grant money to help her students explore animal science though embryology projects. “The whole project is directly related to agriculture. In my course the project will be used during our animal science unit. Students will hatch chickens, observe development, dissect eggs and raise the chickens.” says Prevatt. “We are excited to continue the expansion of our hands-on learning laboratory! These connections are priceless.” Prevatt extends her gratitude to the Farm Bureau as well as the local UF/IFAS Extension for helping make this project possible for her and her students.
Jennifer Yoshioka is a teacher at Community Leadership Academy where she teaches K4. She plans on using the grant money to put together a garden for the preschool. Her goal is to teach the children about how to grow their own food. “We are starting a garden for vegetables and a butterfly garden.” Yoshioka stated, “I feel that it is important to help students learn to love the land that God gave us, and how to use it to provide for ourselves. We are blessed and need to learn to take care of our world, and that starts with even the youngest children. We have an amazing opportunity as teachers to help our students grow into amazing people that help care for our earth.” Yoshioka says that she is very excited for this opportunity and is grateful for the grant money to help teach the children about the importance of agriculture.
Sarah Fulford of the Jefferson County Farm Bureau Women's Chair presented the awards to Yoshioka and Prevatt with her congratulations. Each year, mini-grants are awarded to certified Florida educators who are engaged in class instruction at the Pre-K to 12th grade levels. These grants are awarded to teachers who fill out and complete an application that includes information about their class and the agricultural project they will use the grant funds for. The application opens in August and closes in October.
The inclusion of agricultural projects and lessons in classrooms is very important. Agriculture education programs are not just about teaching students how to be farmers. Education in areas of agriculture can also build on other areas of education, including science, math, communications, nutrition, experimental learning, leadership, technology, biology and many more. It is the foundation of modern day civilization, and the next step in our future as a society.
For more information about the Florida Farm Bureau, call (850) 997-2213 or visit www.floridafarmbureau.com.