Digging Deep into Agriculture

On June 5th and 6th, NMAITC co-hosted the 2023 Albuquerque Public School STEM in the Garden teacher conference, and 65 teachers attended.

“The vision for this conference was to give teachers resources (lessons, activity ideas, networking opportunities with fellow teachers, and industry leaders) that could assist them introducing, digging deep, and eventually expanding on garden/agricultural education through the use of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), as well as broadening the scope that gardening teaches students to not only learn about how a plant grows, but to also show them why it’s important to know how to grow our own food,” said Britney Lardner, NMAITC Program Coordinator. “This conference showcased how versatile garden/agricultural curriculum is, and that New Mexico Ag in the Classroom is excited to be a supportive resource for their classes. A special thanks goes out to the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Bueno Foods for supporting this AGmazing conference, as well as all the many hands that chipped in and volunteered their time to make it a complete success.”

Conference attendees visited Dolores Gonzales Elementary, Del Norte High School, Polk Middle School, and Mountain Mahogany Charter School to learn from their peers about utilizing school gardens in their curriculum and received a variety of resources to connect the school gardens to STEM and agriculture.

“First and foremost, teaching all about agriculture is crucial to the garden,” said Theresa Sandoval, a teacher who oversees the school garden at Dolores Gonzales Elementary. “Britney Lardner and Traci Curry have provided wonderful resources and lessons to the staff and students to enhance their knowledge pertaining to agriculture and the garden. In addition, they go above and beyond to enhance students with hands-on activities to see how the process of how things work. In April, during an agriculture day event at our school, Britney provided extremely important information to students and staff about the variety of components to agriculture. I recall a student saying, ‘I want to be a farmer and feed people.’ I have written grants where Traci has given me ideas and suggestions to support the grant. Most important, Traci and Britney provided information and ideas on what they could teach their students about agriculture. In addition, how our state standards are tied to the lessons provided on NM Ag in the Classroom’s website. It is an honor to have these two Ag in the Classroom representatives provide assistance and resources to educators. One can see the love and passion they have for what they do.”

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Copper Apple Sponsors Thank you

We also extend our thanks to the following Copper Apple and Apple Sponsors who are new sponsors or have increased their support of New Mexico Agriculture in the Classroom this year. They include Dairy Max, First American Bank, Heart of the Desert Pistachios, High Plains Journal, Paul’s Veterinary Supply, Pioneer Bank, Roswell Livestock & Farm Supply, and White Sands Federal Credit Union.