By Scout Nelson
Recently at a special assembly, Ivette Kinney from Sandoz Elementary School was announced as the 2024 Nebraska Agriculture in the Classroom Teacher of the Year. This accolade, presented by the Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation, recognizes teachers who creatively integrate agricultural concepts into their teaching.
Kinney, a second-grade teacher at Sandoz Elementary, has successfully integrated agriculture into her classroom through the Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation's Classroom Visits program, involving her entire second-grade team and ensuring that all students across eight classrooms learned about agriculture this year.
Kinney's initiative to include agriculture in her teaching stems from a desire to connect her students to the origins of their food and supplies, recognizing that many come from diverse backgrounds without this fundamental knowledge. Her efforts expanded during the summer school program, where she introduced fourth and fifth graders to the importance of energy in agriculture through hands-on activities.
For her outstanding contribution to agricultural education, Kinney will be rewarded with a trip to the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, in June 2024. There, she will join other educators in exploring how agriculture can be woven into core subjects like reading, math, science, and social studies. She will receive a bundle of accurate agriculture books and a $250 Amazon gift card.
The Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation champions the cause of agricultural education, aiming to enhance awareness of agriculture's role in the lives of all Nebraskans. Through awards like the one given to Kinney, the foundation underscores the importance of agriculture in education and the community at large.
Photo Credit - Nebraska Farm Bureau
Categories: Nebraska, General