Mat-Su students celebrate agriculture in May

Agriculture is the buzz word at many local schools as students mark Alaska Agriculture Day on Tuesday.

Presentations on bees, soil, vegetables, nutrition, production, farmland preservation and other aspects of agriculture are scheduled at Mat-Su schools, either on Alaska Agriculture Day or during that week.

As part of the Alaska Ag Day effort, guest readers/presenters will be visiting schools around the state to help raise students’ agricultural literacy. Readers include farmers, farm agency personnel, politicians, journalists and other volunteers. This is the fourth year for the Alaska Ag Day Literacy Project.

Tuesday’s Mat-Su events include readers in at least 10 local elementaries and a slate of special speakers at Colony Middle School. Among the readers is state Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer, who sponsored the legislation that created Alaska Agriculture Day.

At Sherrod Elementary, the third- through fifth-grade students will learn about agriculture all morning on Wednesday, with guests to include Alaska Division of Agriculture Director Franci Havemeister, who will bring dairy calves, members of the Southcentral Alaska Beekeepers Association, farmers, farm agency representatives and other volunteers with special activities for the students.

Special presentations will continue throughout the month as Palmer FFA students and other teens visit classrooms in the annual Northland Pioneer Grange ag education project.

Funding for Alaska Ag Day activities here is provided by Country Financial and Mulligan Farms, Pioneer Equipment, Palmer Soil & Water Conservation District and the Alaska Farm Bureau.

Since 2005, Alaskans have marked the first Tuesday in May as Alaska Agriculture Day. Promoted by Alaska Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) and Alaska Farm Bureau, it is designed to raise agricultural awareness of students and adults.

This year, Alaska AITC will debut its new DVD on Alaska’s agricultural history. “Hopeful Harvest: Alaska’s Agricultural History Told By Images of the Past” tells the story of Alaska agriculture from the late 1800s to the present. It was made possible by a grant from the national Agriculture in the Classroom Consortium, with funding from the US Department of Agriculture, as well as ongoing funding from the Alaska Farm Bureau.

The DVD is designed to integrate with the Alaska studies requirement for high school students, but is suitable for junior high through adult. It features archival photos from the Alaska Digital Archives, as well as other vintage and contemporary footage and still photos. There is a companion CD of lesson plans and activities.

Alaska Ag Day is a cooperative effort of Alaska Agriculture in the Classroom, Alaska Farm Bureau and its chapters, Alaska Grange, local Soil and Water Conservation Districts and FFA chapters.

To learn more, visit www.agclassroom.org/ak, e-mail akaitc@alaskafb.org or call Victoria Naegele at 982-2219.

Victoria Naegele (akaitc@laskafb.org) is director of Alaska Agriculture in the Classroom. She lives near Palmer.