The Washington County 4-H Youth Development Program, a part of the University of Maryland Extension (UME), presents Kids Growing with Grains, an agricultural education and literacy program that is offered as a field trip and in-school program, and made available to all schools in Washington County (both public and private). This program targets primarily 4th grade students. The field trip is held at the Western Maryland Research and Education Center. Since 2012, 2,582 students have taken part in this field trip! The program consists of five sessions that are designed to educate youth about the importance of agriculture, the utilization of grains in the diets of people and livestock, the nutritional value of whole grains, and how to identify food products made from grains. This educational experience helps to increase the connection and understanding between agricultural areas and urban/suburban areas, as well as enlighten youth the health benefits and importance of wise food decisions.
2021 Results
The program is traditionally presented as a single day field trip to the Western Maryland Research and Education Center, however, the field trip was not able to occur due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 year was utilized to convert the entire field trip program into a virtual, bitmoji classroom platform, using videos, interactive worksheets, and take home bags of supplies so that hands-on lessons could still be completed.
The Maryland Grain Producers are happy to fund this project with $1,000 for 2022!
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