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Our Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom (MAITC) team is celebrating the 2023-2024 school year by selecting a focus area for each month. Our December focus area is dairy! Check out lessons, videos, teacher professional development opportunities, AgMag features and more that highlight the dairy goodness found in Minnesota!
Visit our new webpage featuring these monthly focus areas for more details.
After School PD with MAITC!
If you missed our cheese-themed professional development session on Monday, December 11, 2023, feel free to check out the recording on our MAITC YouTube.
A HUGE thank you to Redhead Creamery founders and owners Lucas and Alise Sjostrom for sharing their cheese-making expertise and dairy farming experiences!
Explore these dairy and cheese-themed lessons and activities with your students:
 Join us for a virtual field trip to Bushel Boy Tomato Greenhouse!
When: Friday, January 12, 2024, 10 a.m.
What: Let’s find out how Bushel Boy's greenhouse farm in Owatonna, MN, can grow tomatoes and cucumbers in the middle of winter! Bushel Boy President, Chuck Tryon, will show us their high-tech greenhouse farm and we will see how the warm and sunny growing conditions for vegetables are created, even when the outside weather is at its worst in January!
This 30-minute virtual field trip is targeted to K-5 students.
This virtual field trip will also be streamed live on YouTube and a recording will be available for later viewing.
 The MAITC Program and Foundation recognize that first-year teachers face a unique set of challenges as they begin their teaching career. The goals of this first-year teacher grant program are to:
- Support first-year educators in integrating agriculture into their classroom and curriculum.
- Allow MAITC to establish and grow relationships with college students as they transition to employment in schools and educational settings.
First-year teachers are strongly encouraged to complete the short application to receive funds to kick-start agriculture integration in their classroom and curriculum.
 On Friday, October 6, 2023, 104 fifth graders from Minnewaska attended an Ag Day-themed Farm Camp. They visited Dorrich Dairy, RDO Potatoes, MaxBats, and Bakko Industries where they learned about agriculture, dairy, potato storage & composting, technology and caring for the land. After their Farm Camp Minnesota experience, 91.1% of the fifth graders said they felt knowledgeable about the industries in agriculture that they toured; growth from 59.8% prior to Farm Camp!
Visit the Farm Camp website to get connected with the program director and start planning your Farm Camp today!
December Trivia Question: Which state ranks first in the United States in cheese production?
Send your answer to sue.knott@state.mn.us. The first two people to respond with the correct answer will win a My Family's Dairy Farm book.
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