Ag in the Classroom Committee Meets
The Ag in the Classroom Committee met 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 6, with the following members present; Isebella Deny, Mark Jones, Kelly Reus, Patti Nugent, Jill Ostby, Nancy Kuhajda, Abby Cowger, Dakota Cowger and Mark Schneidewind, Farm Bureau manager.
The meeting opened with introductions. For the school year through January, we have had 2,781 students participate in the classroom activities. Ag Expo is set for March 11 set-up and event March 12-14. Currently we have 6 schools with a total of just over 600 students but have 4 more schools that said they were working on transportation for buses and would be signing up soon. Currently there are two new schools from last year. The work schedules were reviewed, and currently we have full workers on 4 of the 7 learning stations. Suggestions from last year have been put into place, and new banners will be secured.
The Four River Summer Ag Institute for teachers will be June 17 and 18 and June 20 and 21, with an option chart for the teachers to pick and choose if they want 1, 2 or 4 days. CPUDs and graduate credit hours offered. The committee met today, and the Will County Day is June 17, and they discussed 4-5 different location stops. The theme this year is horticulture and farmers markets.
Advisory updates were started by Nancy Kuhajda, and she has some new gardens started in Elwood thanks to help from Larry Walsh Jr., Union School has 3 more gardens being added; she has preschoolers growing and planting snap peas, broccoli and some house plants. She has a new garden in Monee and started 2 new ones in Bolingbrook at churches. She has continued her others, including St. Ray’s. She is in conversations with starting one at IKEA as well.
Abby reported on several items, including their Wreaths Across Peotone program, where they made 100 wreaths and placed them on the grave sites and have product donated for next year already in place. Agronomy Day went well, Ag Education and judging contests. In state competition, Mark Jones won and Bella Deny won the Jr level as well, and they had a record 6 kids applying for state FFA degrees. They helped with the Farm Bureau annual meeting ice cream as well, and assisted with the kids bingo, did the harvest bags at grain elevators which they thanked the Farm Bureau for their partnership, had excellent results with over 3,000 pounds of food for the food bank drive, made 120 pillows and handed them out.
The BIG news is they will be breaking ground in 2025 on a new greenhouse, as the Peotone FFA Alumni has given their support, and the school has identified a location as well. It will be approximately 1 1/2-acre size and will have FFA labs.
Dakota met today with several different ag committees and had reported on several items already, and the statewide grant is changing. Mark Jones the intern reported on the new project they are doing for embryology with 21 plastic eggs and each egg with have a different stage in the day count to hatching. He said Iseballa is the new intern, and everyone welcomed her.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m., and the next meeting is set for Tuesday, May 21.