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Robert E. Cashion’s Dr. Beth Reynolds teaches her first graders about agriculture and farming during writing, social studies, and math assignments. In language arts they learn about farm commodities and participate in hands-on activities involving food and fiber. Math involves cooking, graphing, measuring, and using farm products to add and subtract.These technology-smart six-year-olds even visit virtual farms across South Carolina through the AG Simulator, an interactive, mobile educational display unit that allows students to experience harvesting various row crops. “Agriculture through our food and fiber industry can be incorporated into every lesson if you take time to find the connections and resources,” explained Dr. Reynolds. Dr. Reynolds, who was recognized in 2008 as Outstanding Educator by the South Carolina Farm Bureau, has been awarded a $1,500 White-Reinhardt Educator Scholarship to participate in the American Farm Bureau national convention this summer. She is one of only two South Carolina educators to ever receive the scholarship. At the convention Dr. Reynolds will attend workshops where teachers become students, learning how to incorporate agriculture into the curriculum. Reynolds will bring her own classroom experiences to Summer Academy in a course called “Make Your Classroom A Real Barnyard.” This course will cover K-5 lessons that meet state teaching standards in all curriculum areas and incorporate agriculture-based lessons. Participants will receive a notebook of lessons and materials for immediate classroom use. In addition to serving as a classroom teacher, Dr. Reynolds is author of Papa Bruce’s Barnyard, a children’s book based on her experiences growing up on a farm. The driving force behind Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) is the South Carolina Farm Bureau, says Reynolds. The Bureau encourages teachers to use their materials, which meet all South Carolina teaching standards, to enhance classroom teaching. For example, when studying a unit on the forest, the teacher can discuss South Carolina’s tree industry, encourage reports on tree farmers, interview tree farmers, and even take students on a hike around the school campus to graph the types of trees they find. (Images provided by Greenville County Schools.)
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