Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom Announces Grants to Counties
The Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) program is proud to announce the Cook County Farm Bureau Ag in the Classroom Program received funding of $8800 for the 2017-2018 School Year. Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom based these grants to counties off of the 2016-2017 year-end reports.
Kevin Daugherty, Education Director for the Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom program said, “County level programs are the biggest strength of our IAITC efforts. The county programs work to integrate agriculture into existing classroom curriculum.” In 2016-2017, the Illinois AITC program reached 661,797 students with a message about agriculture. Additionally, 40,634 teachers and 1,144 pre-service teachers learned how to incorporate agriculture into their existing curriculum while meeting state learning standards.
“Cook County is privileged to have such a wonderful teaching community who is committed to including agriculture into their lessons from Grades pre-K through 12. Educators reach out to our team regularly to schedule school programs and to use our many free resources such as non-fiction Ag Mag readers, learning kits and books,” stated Ag Literacy Coordinator Diane Merrion. County Coalition Grants are made possible through funding from the IAA Foundation, the charitable arm of the Illinois Farm Bureau. The IAA Foundation raises funds for the Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom program each year, and in addition to county grants, provides funding for Ag Mags, teacher grants, Summer Ag Institutes and more.