Agriculture course grows teachers’ interest

MAT-SU — Sixteen area educators spent three of their last days of summer learning about agriculture by handling worms, petting sheep, herding “pigs” and picking Alaska Grown food.

Participants in the 2011 Alaska Agriculture in the Classroom Educator Institute toured farms in the Butte and Palmer areas, heard from a bevy of agricultural experts and got their hands dirty so they can share agricultural literacy with their students.

Classroom teachers, retired and homeschool teachers and other educators said they loved the hands-on activities to share with students.

“When I can take it to the classroom and use it with the kids, that’s when I tap dance,” said Patricia Walz-Tracy of Wasilla, a retired teacher who runs an in-home education business.

Teachers also said they appreciated the time farmers and other agricultural experts spent talking about this state’s agricultural industry.

Jody Solmonson, who teaches at Bear Valley Elementary in Anchorage, recently moved to Big Lake with her husband. Solmonson said the course was a great introduction to her new area.

“I had no idea what farmers are doing out here,” Solmonson said. She said she will do windowsill gardening with her students this year, talking about the science and economics of agriculture.

Walz-Tracy said she ran out of superlatives to describe her delight in learning about Alaska agriculture.

“This class easily could be a requirement for new teachers to Alaska, just like the Alaska history and multicultural class,” Walz-Tracy said.

The course is offered the first week of August each year.

Alaska AITC (agclassroom.org/ak) is a 501c3 educational outreach of the Alaska Farm Bureau, with additional support from Palmer Soil and Water Conservation District and the Mat-Su Farm Bureau Chapter.