Agriculture in the Classroom - Manitoba (AITC-M) has named Katharine Cherewyk as their new Executive Director.
Cherewyk has been with AITC-M since 2018 when she was hired as the Program Manager, before taking over the role of Operations and Development Manager within her first year. Cherewyk says she had the opportunity to work closely with former Executive Director Sue Clayton during her time with AITC-M.
"Sue and I worked very closely together, we played off each other's strengths quite well, we were a great team. I definitely miss her, but I know that we're continuing to work with each other as she's at the University of Manitoba."
Cherewyk says she's been working in agriculture since graduating with a degree in Agroecology from the University of Manitoba, before doing her masters in entomology from the faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences.
"That kind of sent me down a few different pathways that allowed me to work with indigenous communities across the country, and this ultimately directed me into co-owning a fundraising company in Winnipeg. What's amazing about all of these experiences that I've had is that they didn't seem connected at the time, but they've ended up being so valuable to me in this role. I've spent many days out in the field as the assistant to the potato specialist at the time in Carmen. Then I spent time with indigenous communities working on environmental issues, and I've had on-the-ground experience working in fundraising."
Cherewyk says that through all of these experiences, working with AITC-M has always been a dream of hers.
"It was always a dream to kind of work with Agriculture in the classroom when I was in my undergrad, so it seems to sort have prepared me for this role as Executive Director."
Cherewyk says that there is so much great work going on within AITC-M right now.
"With younger students, we're really trying to build general awareness about agriculture, and we do that through classroom gardens. They're super popular with teachers, and it's often the first time that students have an experience getting their hands dirty. So we like to curriculum and then to agriculture, to show kids how food is grown."
Agriculture in the Classroom - Manitoba has numerous resources for both teachers and students of all ages on its website.
