Free School Presentations
Intro to Agriculture in Illinois
4th Grade
Free in-person or virtual live program will allow students to discover how Illinois agriculture production and processing meets the local and world demand for food, fiber and energy. Introduces basic agricultural information such as crops and livestock, agriculture’s important relationship with natural resources and the environment and the use of 21st century technology in farming today. Program lasts approximately 60 minutes.
There’s Ag on My Plate
4th Grade
This free, in-person follow-up to the Intro to Agriculture in Illinois program is designed to engage students in thoughtful discussion and activities connecting what farmers produce to the USDA MyPlate®. Program lasts approximately 60 minutes.
Presenters
Jim Bloomstrand
Agriculture has been Mr. Bloomstrand’s life-long focus; from growing up on a grain and livestock farm in East Central Illinois to receiving an Agriculture Engineering Degree from the University of Illinois.
Sarah Koukol
Mrs. Koukol is a certified teacher with 13 years of classroom teaching, most in fourth grade. During those years she taught about agriculture in her classroom and took workshops on agriculture from Ag in the Classroom.
Kathy Lesser
Mrs. Lesser was born in Chicago but has always had a love for farming.While in college she worked for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and after college became a Kindergarten teacher in Chicago.
Wayne Kolweier
Mr. Kolweier grew up on a dairy and grain farm in southern Illinois and graduated from Southern Illinois University with B.S and M.S degrees in agronomy.
Michael Galassini
Mr. Galassini grew up in South Holland, IL, which was once dubbed the “Onion Set Capital of the World”, so he gained an appreciation for agriculture at an early age. After graduating from the University of Illinois with a BS in Mathematics he worked in the oil industry for 30 years.
Barbara Bhojraj
Barbara Bhojraj, or "Basia" as she is also called, hails from the Palos/Orland area where she resides with her husband, two sons, and two cats
Betsy Yager
Mrs. Yager taught fourth grade for 22 years and was a school librarian for the last 12. She always enjoyed when Ag in the Classroom came to her fourth grade class and told teachers that when she retired, she would like to be a presenter.