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Are you dreaming of summer? We are! This summer, Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom (MAITC) is offering three in-person Summer Teacher Tour options. These tours provide professional development for educators to dig-in to agriculture with exciting tours and experiences at farms, processing sites, research facilities, and more! Participants will receive a wealth of standards-based, agriculture-themed lesson plans and resources, as well as opportunities to network and share ideas with fellow K-12 educators.
2024 Teacher Tours
- June 18, 2024: The Hands That Feed Us Teacher Tour (Mankato, MN)
- July 9, 2024: Orchard to Market Teacher Tour (White Bear Lake, MN)
- July 22, 2024: Farm, Fiber & Fabrication Teacher Tour (Bemidji, MN)
 After School PD with MAITC: Seeds!
When: Thursday, March 21, 2024, 3:45-4:45 p.m.
What: Meet Zachary Paige, owner of North Circle Seeds and a University of Minnesota sustainable agriculture & food systems specialist! Zachary will explain how seeds are grown, collected, and made available to all of us. He’ll share ideas for seed saving and demonstrate how you can set-up a seed starting station in your classroom. Seed-themed lessons and activities will be shared and demonstrated.
These include:
Twenty lucky teachers will receive a seed starting kit and several other teachers will win a complimentary registration for a 2024 Summer Teacher Tour.
One CEU will be provided to attendees.
 Teachers, we want to hear from YOU! If you have used our Food for Thought lessons and maps, we'd love your feedback on these resources. Please complete the Food for Thought Feedback Survey by March 15, 2024 to be eligible for one of 10 $50 gift cards.
 If this is your first year as a K-12 teacher, you can apply for our MAITC first-year teacher grant! This grant provides funding so you can use food, plants and animals to help your student learn and grow!
The application is short and easy to complete.
Applications are evaluated using the following:
- Innovation and sustainability are important factors the grant committee will use in evaluating grant applications.
- When developing ideas for your grant application, please consider ways you can engage students in understanding agriculture from farm to plate, and how agriculture impacts all of us within our local community, state, nation, and around the world.
 We know teachers are BUSY, but still want engaging, hands-on experiences for their students. Farm Camp can help!
Our Farm Camp program director finds out what teachers are teaching in class and helps brainstorm ideas to fit the curricula and student interests. Then, we find an AgHost and plan an engaging, hands-on tour. We provide the lessons for base knowledge before the tour and career exploration activities after the tour. Everything is planned for you - for free!
Visit the Farm Camp website to get connected with the program director and brainstorm Farm Camp opportunities for the students in your community!
March Trivia Question: What is the date of the 2024 vernal equinox? (Hint: It's in March!)
Send your answer to sue.knott@state.mn.us. The first two people to respond with the correct answer will win a MAITC reusable bag.
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