In this video, Kevin Daugherty, Education Director at Illinois Ag in the Classroom discussed the importance of staying informed about the evolving needs and challenges faced by teachers and students in agricultural education.

Here's what you can learn:

01:15 Overview of Kevin's role at Illinois Ag in the Classroom

03:45 Importance of Agricultural Education Programs

06:30 Introduction to the Ag in the Classroom website

09:10 Engaging Educational Resources for K-12 Teachers

12:00 Enhancing Agricultural Literacy Across the State

14:20 Discussion on Innovative Teaching Approaches

17:05 Q&A Session with Kevin

20:30 Future Goals and Priorities for Agricultural Education

22:50 Recognition of Outstanding Teachers in the Field Grow future leaders! Partner with Illinois Ag in the Classroom.

Transcript of interview:

Well, thanks Kevin for joining us this morning we're really glad to have you on and we're always happy to talk with our friends at Illinois a in the classroom and so as we start I want to know more about your role um we know education is always changing how do you stay informed about the evolving needs and challenges faced by teachers and students in the agriculture education well yeah uh that's a that's a great question um so my staff and I uh we coordinate the efforts along with the um the county coordinator so our real our real fots boots on the ground the feet feet in the classrooms are are county level coordinators so across the state of Illinois 102 counties uh 89 of those Counties have a paid person that goes into the to the classrooms at the county level and also helps facilitate teacher training so they help us uh keep us informed with what's going on and what what they're seeing additionally here at the Illinois uh agon classroom uh as a division of the Illinois Farm Bureau we work really closely with a number of folks at at the education level now this it's March so we're we're in the middle of our conference season last week we were just with the Illinois Association of supervision and curriculum development that's a mouseful but I a CD acronyms were we're in agriculture we like those too but the iasc kindergarten and early childhood conference one of the largest conferences in the state almost 3,000 kindergarten teachers were there and we we had four different uh uh Workshop sessions e each with 25 to 30 teachers in it we had a very interactive Booth people like to come and and see what what we're up to but uh uh a huge emphasis on Early Childhood learning in the state of Illinois we continue to hear that at the uh state level and the governor's address you see funding fo toward that uh at the at the state house as well so we are at those conferences and we see those things and then next week we are at the Illinois reading conference we'll be down in Springfield the reading Teachers Association and really that emphasis on reading in Illinois we spend a lot of time talking about reading so it's one of those things that I work with on our commodity partners and make sure that they understand that uh we're always promoting books uh and how that works and from that K through K through e8th grade level everybody is talking about reading how we can improve reading scores and what we can do so our goal at agon a classroom is to make sure that we have uh accurate agricultural information that's going out in the form of reading that then we can link back to science and social studies and really talk about that accurate a so those are two ways uh third way I'm a former teacher my staff is is made up of former teachers most of our coordinators have education backgrounds as well and then uh as a as a glutton for punishment I also happen to serve on the local school board I've done that for over 20 years as well so uh uh keep my uh keep my my my feet in the uh pool as you as you would say it uh trying to figure out what's going on educationally but one of the biggest challenges that we continue to see is uh what's going on funding wi and uh making sure that our teachers and our schools have have that local control so uh I think that's that'll probably uh hit home for most of our our Illinois Corn Farmers again those corn Farmers a number of your uh members a number of your board members that they're Schoolboard members as well so understanding what goes on at the local level uh in that in that K through 12 non-blue jacketed I like to say that uh everybody that's not in FFA that's who that's who we're responsible for and we work really closely with our friends and our partners in a education but uh our goal is to to help provide accurate information and educational resources for those non-ag teachers yeah that's a great place to start and you're talking about attending conferences meeting with people being on different boards how does your awareness um through these different activities influence the development of new programs or the way you modify existing ones our bread and butter issues a number of people I'll dig down on my pile here are familiar with our AG mags uh we have 27 different AGG mags they've been a staple with Owen way Farm Bureau for over almost 30 years now uh having our AG mags written at the fourth grade level lots of information about uh different Commodities uh you know this one holding up corn but different information about it high interest for our fourth grade teachers but most importantly that aspect of careers on the back uh how folks might be involved and our students might be involved in agriculture and that commodity without necessarily being on the far so trying to make sure that that works we really strive to make sure that the readability is at that fourth grade level but what we're seeing is our fourth graders aren't reading at the fourth grade level anymore uh across the state that that number dipped during covid and is starting to come back but it it is uh it is slowly but surely coming back but uh we we actually developed a new piece of material called an agmag Jr more written like a Weekly Reader at a slightly lower level but we also developed something for our upper level readers sometimes uh that's an agmag Jr but uh more more uh more second grade focused and then um but we we found that some of our sixth graders they didn't want to carry around an agmag it looked too childish it looked tooo Elementary so we developed a a reader same type of information but it looks more scholarly say again same type of information accurate information uh uh researched where it comes from but that that is uh helping our older students identify with those commodity groups as well but we also found that even sometimes our little readers our our youngest readers our kindergarten readers we had to develop a one-page sheet for those as well so uh what we did for a number of years was concentrate on our a mags and now we have readers we have little readers we have uh kindergarten readers we have Junior AG mags but we've also found that there's this uh taste for more uh teachers want more and uh that that's that's an easy thing for us to do is we've moved toward an online version but one of the things we've come up with is a new thing on our website and they're called Farm bites it's hard to do a whole unit on horse radish I'll I'll just tell you it's a kind of cool thing in Illinois we grow a lot of horseradish but uh we're not going to have a whole a MAG on it so we've got a one page three or four main facts about horse radish on one side but because we grow more horseradish than any other state the nation on the back we have that interview with a farmer so uh on a number of topics that we'll never do an AGG mag on again we won't have a maple syrup AGG mag that's a Vermont thing we won't have a horseradish AG mag but we've got these one pagers that that really can introduce teachers and students to the topic but more importantly make sure that they introduce themselves they're introduced to an Illinois Farm family as well my staff and I we keep incredibly busy making sure that we're uh we're keeping up with that uh we we have a new one coming out uh turf management so between roadsides uh cemeteries Lawns golf courses sporting Fields so trying to introduce some of those students to that that career and uh they're interested in soil science and plant science that's what turf management is as well so we'll have a one-pager coming out on Turf and uh maybe uh maybe get some some uh students and teachers out to a golf course and see what goes on out there or or to uh you know it it's hard to have uh those Lush playing fields and football fields in the fall without uh folks understanding what Turf is definitely I think that would be a fun field trip for a lot of kids the opportunity to go to a golf course or some sporting event so sounds like you all are staying busy with all of your different um Publications there but I want to hear a little bit more too about your career I know you've been with the Illinois Farm Bureau for many years how has your experience evolved over the years you gave us some great examples of some different things that you've been working on and then what are some of those key lessons that you've learned um that continue to guide your leadership in attic education how how things have changed I I think the thing that's changed the most is um back in the day you used to have a textbook uh when you were in elementary school you probably remember you got your books and maybe you even covered them with a brown paper grocery bag or something like that students today don't have textbooks uh postco you see fewer and fewer textbooks specifically at that Elementary level and we're developing more units so because of that we see the opportunity for our materials like our onepage farm bites like our Junior AG mags like our AGM mags to really make that difference in classes so uh that that's one of the things that we've noticed a difference about uh whereas before we were trying to fit into the textbook where did it where did it fall and what happened within a textbook now our goal is really to see how we can take a accurate information and make sure that it fits into both the the the state learning standards and those local learning standards what they're what they're up to packing peanuts that's one of our huge things we do with corn um it's a little harder to get corn to germinate on a necklace around your neck takes a little longer that type of thing but that it does a soybean but uh uh uh corn packing peanuts using byproducts of corn and uh you know so a lot of people have seen the packing peanuts well it might be brand new to that third grader just because we've seen it as adults and we've done it doesn't mean that those students and our primary audience mean that doesn't mean that they've seen it and also we we've noticed this trend too even our um even our kindergarteners who have no chance at all of reading our fourth grade level agmag we really encourage it and our teachers really like the activities that are in here and they like sending those home because they'll have a book to send home and they can send this home and their parents can learn as well and my Master's in education I was president of our local school board and we'd hired a teacher wonderful teacher in our school my son misheard her when he was in second grade he misunderstood what she said but he was he was willing to die with what she said which was something wrong and I'm like dude it's it's wrong I I I'm telling you it's wrong but to those second and third graders there's nobody more influential than their teacher so our work with teachers is really key to this because they're they're they're the ones that know everything in the eyes of those kids so if those kids bring something home that their teacher said hey take this home read this we'll be able to uh we'll be able to provide education and information both of that student that hopefully they'll they'll learn and remember but also to their parents and provide that information to them one of the activities we did this year we borrowed something I've been waiting to do this several years ago at a farm progress show uh the Corn Growers at the Corn Growers tent Decor uh brought out underwear and they soiled their underwear and uh they talked about burying underwear and for 2023 uh we actually got a grant and soil is just not soil's just not an exciting topic I mean you know we got drones and we got digital information and we got Ai and here I am this guy up there talking about dirt right so how are we gonna do that and we did uh I had the strangest expense account at the elois Farm Bureau because I bought about 800 pair of boys underwear and we PA out all over the state and encourage teachers to bury those and dig those up uh throughout the fall we started we started at the beginning of the year and we had them digging them up they plan at the back to school week and we dug them up all the way through Veterans Day and the students were able to see uh good healthy soil what happened as the as the underwear was broken down and what happened as we soiled ourd so it's more than just uh it's more than just a a a catchphrase or a topic it's really providing that information so more information about uh and education about what happened with the underwear about the importance of uh taking care of the soil and how how that all works together and how Farmers you know everyday's Earth Day on the farm so we're we're we're interested in making sure that they understand that with a with a unique way that they will remember and uh it was a great way uh social media to send that home and you know what did we do today at school well we were burying underwear Oh My Gosh Look What the earthworms did to our underwear how we were able to dig it up well that sounds like an exciting activity I know we still get a lot of comments from our from progress show display um numerous years ago and I I can also Echo you know the words of your son from second grade I've had a lot of really influential teachers and so I think you know all these things that you're talking about are great great things to highlight now as we look ahead and consider ongoing changes in educational landscapes in the agriculture industry what are some of the goals and priorities you have for the Illinois Center of agricultural engagement yeah so the Illinois Center for a engagement that's a fancy word several years ago uh uh I inherited and I'm really excited to be working with this but I I also uh work with the Illinois Farm families program and Illinois Farm bureau's consumer engagement so in our house we we have both uh consumer engagement and classroom engagement and works really really well together we do keep them separate but again we have those key partners of the Illinois Corn Growers soybean uh pork beef Midwest dairy uh from the a in the classroom side we add in the a teacher group and the FFA group as well as extens but again those are key partners for our for our consumer engagement as well in that space so our key goal is uh is just to try and remain to be Innovative uh how do how do we keep being Innovative provide the basic resources that we have and continue to add on Illinois uniquely has a number of authors that are writing phenomenal books about about agriculture and uh so that's another way that we're able to reach that audience of not only students and teachers but then also from the public library aspect so providing accurate information across the board so you'll see our County coordinators plus the AG in the classroom program not only doing formal education with school but you'll see some informal education with our Librarians uh specifically during their summer reading program this year to go along with that in the importance of the environment um the uh the summer reading theme this year for Li Ares across the state is read renew repeat and it's that idea of uh sustainability so uh we're Kicking It Off on Earth Day this year with our uh our corn grower sponsored sustainability agmag and we'll be making Earth Day bracelets talking about how important the people are who's going to take care of the land and the air and the soil and the water those those ideas that are Concepts that are U across all of our commodity groups you know those are their key their key agenda items what they're talking about legislatively what they're talking about with their members what they're trying to talk with with the consumers about and we're able to take that and make it into classroom ready uh Community ready resources for people to stop and think about that yeah you're highlighting kind of that divide that we sometimes see and you talked a little bit about some upcoming events where um can you elaborate a little bit more on the a in the classroom website and maybe where Educators can go to get some of those resources where they can go to get grant information and things like that right yeah so our website is a inthe classroom.org a inthe classroom.org u a in theclassroom is a national program the national site is a classroom.org so we get a lot of traffic for people who are looking for National we're able to send them there as well but on our page the most important thing you'll see at the top is um uh contact there's a contact Section and one of the things we really try to do is direct teachers and those people that are interested right to that county level so we have the drop- down menu that you can find your county coordinator so that's the first tab that you'll see at the top at the top the second tab are our teacher information and resources where you'll find all the links to our aags book online and how you can get those plus our little readers our uh junior high readers our one pagers uh plus our Junior aags all of that information is there then the second drop down is uh under our teacher information is lessons and resources there are thousands of lessons there all correlated to the state learning standards all that have a link to um Agriculture and then um typically an agmag or a children's book or some some specific reference um not just taking things for granted and seeing where they're from but understanding what a primary resource is and where where where you actually can find this information so that's one of the things that we do but AG inth classroom.org and I don't want to I don't want to drop this opportunity here in the next week we should be promoting what's going to be going on this summer and this summer are our summer a institutes and uh this summer we've got 40 scheduled around the state so we helped to put almost 50 uh almost 500 uh teachers through between 5 and 600 teachers through our summer EG institutes where what we'll see is these teachers get uh two to two to four days of uh instruction half of the day will be in-class instruction here or lessons here's how you can use that uh the uh interns for the for all the commodity groups are invited to various ones uh that that go my staff will be at all of them we'll do a three-hour presentation and uh uh we'll we'll we'll do various classroom activities in the morning and then in the afternoon the uh at the county level they take them out and showcase agriculture specific to their County that they might not see for a number of our County locations they also go to impl dealers and there's nothing like a you watch a teacher 40 to 50 years old climbing into a combine you know and getting to drive around the parking lot in a combine or a tractor to understand what goes on in that and how how that works again technology information we do have two that will be partnering with the USDA uh uh uh with the USDA in Peoria at the a research center uh the a research service AR both in Peoria and champagne those will be specific ones for junior high and high school teachers to to actually meet with these Ben scientists and talk about what goes on in a research well great you went ahead and grabbed that information for me I was GNA that was going to be my next question I wanted to go ahead and ask you about Amanda sto Amanda St so she won an award award this year for Illinois but then also a national award is what I'm understanding can you share a little bit more about that yeah so U every year we we uh we have two teachers that rise to the top we have our teacher of the year then our teacher of the year is Amanda stano and she's a sixth grade uh K through sixth grade stem teacher from Bloomington normals Corpus chrisy Catholic School nominated by mlan county and she won U our teacher of the year was nominated for the national award and she just received the uh we found out she just received the uh uh one of the Excellence in agriculture teaching about agriculture Awards so she too will also be at the uh National AG of the classroom conference coming up this summer in uh Salt Lake City Utah the end of June and she'll be awarded uh she's one of six people that'll be uh receiving this award uh nationally so we're really excited it's been a couple years since we've had it national winner but excited we have both our teacher of the year and our teacher of the year Runner around that'll both be in Salt Lake City uh representing Illinois two very diverse areas everywhere in between our teachers of the year they rise to the top and it's because of the work with our uh because of the work with our County coordinators they see a teacher that's doing something above and beyond and they're able to nominate those to to to to receive the state award and then we pass those on for the national but very excited that Amanda SEO is receiving the uh National AG of the classroom Excellence award this summer in Salt Lake City very good well it sounds like we have some great teachers and a great support system behind them from you all and those um county level coordinators too is there anything else you wanted to highlight here as we wrap up today so again thanks to the general support of our uh the uh uh Corn Growers Association all those farmer members and another cool part about my job is uh I spend money I don't make money so the uh the uh the role of uh fundraising goes to the Ia foundation so we're grateful for their support and but also uh the the staff members so we will keep your Corin intern busy this summer already got dates booked for them and where they'll come but uh uh the court intern to help spread that word about what's going on corger wise plus also the the cool work that cor corers do we we got an event coming up we're helping out at the uh the cor belter stadium so talking about education day and where things you know you can't have baseball without agriculture so that'll be our message out at the Corn Growers event as well making sure that uh students that everywhere they turn they can see how there's an a link definitely well we are glad to be able to partner with you as well and thankful for those opportunities for our intern and we just want to thank you once again for taking some time to talk with us today we'll continue to keep highlighting all the work you're doing to educate our students about agriculture thanks Kevin thank you.