This past year Ag in the Classroom (AITC) reached 2,102,844 students, which is an increase of 110 per cent compared to the previous year.
Sue Clayton, Executive Director of AITC Manitoba and Vice-Chairperson of AITC Canada, says Manitoba saw a big jump in the number of students reached as well.
She attributes the nationwide jump to having all 10 provinces on board with AITC.
“So that definitely helps with the numbers and also more of a move to online resources for teachers. We still go into classrooms and we still run professional development days for teachers off-site and we still invite teachers to bring students to off-site programs, like field trips. But, we made more of a move to online resources and, so that was good in light of what’s happened with COVID, we’re able to pivot quite quickly.”
AITC Manitoba reached 37,968 students in the province this past year.
At AITC Canada’s AGM four new board executive officers were elected, including Sue Clayton as Vice-Chairperson. For Clayton, this means being involved in more strategic things at the national level, including being the chair of an advisory group.
“We’ll be inviting some people to be part of an advisory group to the national organization. People that are outside of the Agriculture in the Classroom organization to make sure that we understand exactly what it is, that’s needed in the classroom and what people in the industry have to offer to make sure that we’re doing the best we can for agriculture education across the country.”
This upcoming school year is bringing some uncertainty as to what capacity Ag in the Classroom will be in the classroom. With a vision at the national level to get agriculture into every classroom, inspiring every student, improving online resources is a must. It’s been a slow movement raising the money in order to develop hands-on, engaging, online activities for students. Specifically in Manitoba, AITC created a COVID resource for high school students, as well as having other resources available on their website. Clayton says they’re developing resources to launch in the fall because she doubts they’ll be able to do classroom visits right away. Work is being done to expand on programs, over 50 “Snap Ag Sheets” are available online, and the teacher matrix is being expanded.
“We’re just trying to develop more online tools and activities and virtual experiences. So, that’s really what our focus is for the fall and there’s going to be a lot of exciting things coming up in the next few months.”
Clayton says their website is a great place for teachers and parents to find resources to teach their students or kids more about how our food is grown and the safe food supply we have in Canada.
