SHARE:  
MAITC Heading

Monthly News & Updates

November 2024 | Issue #158

*make sure to click "View entire message" to get access to the full newsletter!*
Make a Scholarship Donation

Calendar of Events


Maine School Garden Network Annual Meeting

November 8, 2024

MOFGA's Common Ground Education Center

Unity, ME

More Info


MAITC Statewide Agriculture Education Organization Grants & Agriculture Leadership Grants Application Deadline

December 13, 2024


NH AITC Maple Symposium

January 31, 2025

Gilford Elementary School

Gilford, NH


Maine Agricultural Trades Show

January 14-16, 2025

Augusta Civic Center

Augusta, ME


Read ME Agriculture

March 2025


Northeast Farm to Institution Summit

April 7-9, 2025

Holiday Inn by the Bay

Portland, ME

More Info


Northeast Livestock Expo

Kids Day

May 16, 2025


NAITC Conference

June 23-26, 2025

Minneapolis, MN

More Info


National Children & Youth Garden Symposium

July 8-11, 2025

Connecticut Science Center Hartford, CT

More Info


Visit our Teach ME Food & Farms Lesson Site Developed for Maine Educators
Connect with us on Facebook!
Facebook  

We LOVE to feature outstanding teachers in Maine who are incorporating agriculture into their classroom!


Highlighting the great work teachers are doing across the state inspires all of us and sparks new ideas for grants, projects, and partnerships! 



Fill out this questionnaire to be our next Teacher Feature!!

Thank you to all the owners of the Agricultural Specialty License Plate!

YOU make our programming possible!

Agriculture Inside and Outside of the Classroom in Rangeley

This month we’re featuring the Rangeley Lakes Regional School (RLRS) Garden Club! They were recipients of a 2023 Maine Agriculture in the Classroom School Garden & Greenhouse Grant. Are you wondering how you can connect your school garden and greenhouse to your classroom? Read on to learn some of the awesome ways it’s happening in Rangeley.


The RLRS Garden Club, led by Darlene Woodman and Maryam Emami, has been working to bring a greenhouse and garden-to-table experience to all pre-K through 12 students.


Together, the 9th grade Earth Science class, the 11-12th grade Environmental Science class, the 11th grade American History class, and community volunteer Peter Christensen built the greenhouse. Pea stone was laid, posts drilled, wood frames installed, hoops installed, entryways framed, walls constructed, the plastic put up, and the raised beds and cedar tables made. The Earth Science class connected this work to their unit on The Greenhouse Effect and Climate Change, using the greenhouse as a model for heat transfer and heat capture. The Environmental Science class was working on a unit on Ecological Footprints, Sustainability, and Land Use, and the greenhouse project fit in perfectly with these topics. The 11th grade American History class also assisted with greenhouse construction as part of their end of year economics unit, which involved examining global, national, and local economic systems.

Financial Algebra and Pre-Calculus students drafted architectural designs, calculated the square feet for the greenhouse foundation, and figured out how much pea stone would be needed for the greenhouse and a surrounding area on which to place compost bins as well as picnic tables and outdoor plant pots. They also assisted with measurements and calculations for greenhouse plastic square footage, lumber for shelves, workbenches, and raised beds, and cubic feet of soil to fill the beds.


In May, students learned about soil block making and planting from master farmer Michael Greifendorf. His explanation covered chemistry, composition, and nutrition associated with soil block mixtures, such as coco coir, peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite. Students practiced using mini blocks, medium blocks, and large blocks made from three different mixtures. Following the creation of multiple types of blocks, students learned how to plant seeds, how to research which seeds need light to germinate, and how to care for young seedlings and plants using the Grow Light Cart.

Students were then responsible for transplanting seedlings and keeping them watered. Students filled the raised beds with 3” maple trunks at the bottom and then layered different perennial bed soils made from compost. They transplanted celery, broccoli, rudbeckia, calendula, peppers, and various varieties of tomatoes including heirloom tomatoes. They also directly planted purple fingerling potatoes. Additionally, many plants were transplanted into smart pots. The tomatoes were staked, pruned, and tied to strings. Garden Club students participated in selling plants at the Farmers’ Market and had several plant sales at the greenhouse during baseball games. Throughout the summer, students of all grades and ages volunteered to water, prune, and perform other plant maintenance duties. 


We find it inspiring how Rangeley Lakes Regional School is incorporating agriculture into so many facets of what they’re doing and how they’re shaping their school environment. Keep up the great work!

Maine School Garden Network Annual Meeting

The Maine School Garden Network Annual Meeting will be Friday, November 8th at MOFGA in Unity. Join MSGN for an afternoon and evening of engaging workshops, networking, and a shared potluck meal. There is no cost to attend, just register so we know you are coming!


The meeting will include a Tree Care workshop in MOFGA’s Heritage Orchard followed by a Vegetable Preserving workshop. These workshops are worth 2 contact hours for educators. Register today!

NELE Kids Day 2025

The Northeast Livestock Expo Kids Day is back for 2025! This is a full day field trip opportunity for Grades K-4 students. More than 30 different exhibits will be offered with animals, insects, history, and more! Buses are expected to arrive between 9:00 and 10:15 AM. Buses may only begin to leave after lunch at 12:15 PM, and the event will be finished for all at 2:00 PM. Bus transportation reimbursements will be available for schools within a 60 mile radius of Windsor Fairgrounds on a first-come, first-serve basis. Register your classroom here!

New Hampshire Maple Symposium

New Hampshire Agriculture in the Classroom will be hosting a maple symposium for educators, club leaders, and volunteers with overall scope of providing skills and expertise to take the casual maple enthusiast and help them "level up" so they can pass their love for the craft onto future generations. There will be presentations from veteran educators on how to introduce maple education and how it works within their curriculum, professional and hobbyist syrup producers, examples of lessons and activities that can be used, and a tour of a sugar house. Lunch will be provided with registration. The symposium will take place on January 31st, at Gilford Elementary School in Gilford, NH. Stay tuned for more info and registration, or email NHAITC with any questions.

Native American Heritage Month Resources

November is Native American Heritage Month, an opportunity to uplift and celebrate Native culture and traditions. Check out these resources:


USDA Indigenous Food Sovereignty Initiative


Sovereignty Gardens: “Sovereignty Gardens” uses animation and puppetry to follow Stompy, the buffalo, and his friend, Bran, through a series of learning adventures, which include cameos by Indigenous and scientific leaders. There are also accompanying educator’s guides and lesson plans available for download.


Indigenous Foods Foraging and Cooking Videos: Through the USDA Office of Tribal Relations Indigenous Food Sovereignty Initiative, the organization North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS) produced a series of videos on Indigenous foods, foraging, and cooking.


Volume 10, Issue 3 of “The Dirt”: This issue has an awesome article about The Generational Empowerment Boys & Girls Club who have been busy creating a community garden in the Española Public School District in New Mexico. An additional component of their farm to school program has been connecting children with Tribal Elders in the community by sharing meals and spending time together. What a cool project, encompassing farm to school, culture, and community!


American Indian Perspectives on Thanksgiving: For educators grades 4-8

4H Virtual Field Trip - Aquaculture Industry

A great new tool for aquaculture educators: Explore Maine’s Aquaculture Industry with Virtual Field Trips from 4-H. These immersive, online experiences bring Maine’s thriving aquaculture industry to life—no travel required!

The virtual field trips, accessible at no cost, are designed to break down geographical and financial barriers, making high-quality, hands-on learning available to all. Educators, both formal and informal, can register online to receive a link to the virtual field trips, providing a seamless way to introduce their students to Maine aquaculture. Each field trip also comes with complimentary 4-H activity guides and lesson plans to help facilitate meaningful engagement with K-12 youth. These experiences offer insight into seafood production, workforce development, career exploration, and STEM concepts related to aquaculture technologies.

Check out their website for more info or to register for a virtual field trip, or contact Carla Scocchi, UMaine Cooperative Extension 4-H.

Farm to School Youth Art Contest

National Farm to School Network invites youth artists ages 22 and under to submit original artwork inspired by this year’s theme, "From Soil to Sea: Nourishing People and Planet." 

Artwork Prompt: How do the different parts of farm to school, such as the land, oceans, rivers; farmers, fishermen, ranchers; and schools, students, and communities come together to create a better food system and environment for all of us? Your artwork can be an expression of what farm to school looks like in your community, or what you wish to see!


They will be awarding three winners with fun prizes! Deadline is November 7th.

Learn more information and enter here!

Funding Opportunities!!!

Seed Money Challenge Grants

SeedMoney is thrilled to begin accepting applications for the 10th annual SeedMoney Challenge, a 30-day crowdgranting competition open to any public food garden project anywhere in the world. Whether you're associated with a community garden, youth garden, food bank garden or community farm, the SeedMoney Challenge can help your project raise the funds it needs to flourish. Participating projects receive 100% (i.e. 0% fees) of what they raise whether they reach their funding goal or not. On top of the funds they raise, projects compete for 432 grants ranging from $100 to $1000. The more a project raises, the larger the grant it qualifies to receive. Applications close on November 12th.


More information here.

NAITCO CHS Classroom Grants


CHS Foundation provides $500 grants each year to pre-kindergarten-12th grade teachers who have classroom projects that use agricultural concepts to teach reading, writing, math, science, social studies and more. Eligible projects include classroom and schoolyard gardens, embryology projects, aquaculture projects and agricultural literacy reading programs to name a few. Projects need to be completed by June 1 the following year to allow for submission of a final report by June 30. Only state-certified classroom teachers employed by a school district or private school teachers are eligible to apply.


The CHS Classroom Grant application deadline is November 15, 2024.


MAITC Agricultural Leadership and Statewide Agricultural Education Organization Grants


Ag Leadership: These grants are in support of leadership development activities for students already enrolled in agriculture courses at the Middle or High School level, in formal and informal education settings, providing these students with the skills to become future leaders in the agriculture and natural resources field. Grants are intended to support organized leadership programs rather than an individual student.


Statewide Agricultural Education Organization:

Funding will be available to nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations within the state of Maine or serving students or educators within the state of Maine. Funds may be used for events, materials and educational programs for students, educators and/or volunteers with a statewide impact. (This category is not designated for individual schools or school districts, or programs serving only a geographical portion of the state.) Matching contributions are mandatory and may consist of; use of facilities, volunteer time, in-kind contributions, community involvement, salaries, etc.


Application deadline for both is December 13, 2024.

School Garden Photos Needed!

Maine School Garden Network has a fundraising opportunity - the 2026 School Garden of the Month Calendar. This will be a great way to raise funds for your school garden projects! But first, MSGN needs your help - they're looking for the best school garden pictures from schools all over the state! Twelve schools will be selected and featured as School Garden of the Month throughout the year. Each of these schools will also be eligible for the School Garden of the Year title and a spot on the calendar cover! Learn more about the fundraiser and submit your entry here.

Deadline to submit your entry is January 15, 2025.


Harvest of the Month - November is Maine Brassicas!

Check out our Brassicas Resource Page for lessons, activities, books, and more!


Click here for the great Harvest of the Month (HOM) materials - posters, fact sheets, recipes, social media promo, and more! Learn more about how schools can participate.


Search the Ag Literacy Curriculum Matrix for even MORE resources!


All of our HOM Resource Pages can be found on our Teach ME site under "Teaching Units"

Teacher Resources Section

Lessons

Cultures, Food, and Communities Around the World. Students explore different cultures around the world and their unique traditions centered around food and its preparations. Students discover how food gets from the farm to the grocery store. (Grades K-2)


Enjoying the Harvest. Students identify the parts of a wheat plant and wheat kernel and investigate the process of milling wheat kernels into flour. (Grades 3-5)


A Rafter of Turkeys. Students investigate the domestication and life cycle of the turkey, discover how turkeys are raised on farms, and identify turkey products. (Grades 3-5)


Wild Rice. Students explore the life cycle of wild rice, compare the steps of the traditional Native wild rice harvest with a cultivated wild rice harvest, and create their own wild rice bowls. (Grades 3-5)


The Geography of Thanksgiving Dinner. Identify common Thanksgiving foods and their farm source, determine if those foods can be produced locally, and locate the common origins of their Thanksgiving day dinner. (Grades 6-8)


More Then One Grain of Rice. Students will learn about the cultivation and parts of rice while also covering subjects including mathematics, economics, and geography. Activities include reading One Grain of Rice by Demi and removing the hull, bran, and germ from grains of rice. (Grades 6-8)


The Geography of Thanksgiving Dinner. Identify common Thanksgiving foods and their farm source, determine if those foods can be produced locally, and locate the common origins of their Thanksgiving day dinner. (Elevated for Grades 9-12)


Looking for more? Explore the Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix HERE

Books

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story

Feasts and Festivals Around the World

Hungry Planet

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World

What's For Lunch?

Eating Plates

One Grain of Rice

Don't forget that all SIX of our Agriculture for ME books are available to read online!

Videos

Preserving Heirloom Crops with Wozupi Farms

How Stuff Works: Popcorn

Activities & Resources

Up close experience: Almonds. Explore how almonds grow in this 360-degree video experience designed for kids! With immersive visuals and engaging narration, you'll visit an almond orchard, learn about pollination, watch almonds grow, and see how they’re harvested—all while feeling like you’re in the field. A fun, interactive way to learn about agriculture!


How Did That Get On My Thanksgiving Day Plate? Turkey, cranberries, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, butter, sweet potatoes - check out this article from the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture to learn more about how these foods make it to your plate! The article includes links to more resources, too!


Cranberry Bounce. A great video to celebrate Thanksgiving. See an enactment of the first North American Thanksgiving at Plymouth. Watch children put on hip waders and go chest high into the bog during the fall cranberry harvest. Cranberry Bounce introduces children to the seasons on a cranberry farm. Along the way, they learn about the biology of cranberry reproduction, geography of cranberry growing areas, some cranberry recipes, and cranberry decorations.


Bread in a Bag. This activity details the instructions for making bread in a Ziploc bag. An excellent way to demonstrate bread-making and the properties of yeast within a classroom setting.

ReTreeUS


KidsGardening Grants


White-Reinhardt Grants


Whole Kids Foundation


The Pollination Project Grants


Future Organic Farmer Grant


CHS Classroom Foundation Grants


Fuel Up


Project Learning Tree


Captain Planet Foundation


Sustainable Agriculture Grants for Farmers & Educators


Salad Bars to Schools


Fruit Tree 101


Kars4Kids Grants


The Awesome Foundation Grants


Digital Wish Grants


The Flannel Shirt Fund


More funding opportunities are listed from some of our friends:

Maple Curriculum Support: Tapping into Maple Tradition - Lessons for K-12 Classrooms.


Looking for field trips? Check out Real Maine's Food, Farms, and Forest Search


Gulf of Maine Research Institute Learning Resource Hub - compelling curriculum for teachers of middle school students that connects classroom learning to authentic scientific experiences.


ReTreeUS plants orchards in schools and provides educational programs that empower people to be healthy environmental stewards.


See the Maine Farm to School Census here. Are you participating?


Maine School Garden Network provides resources and technical assistance for all school gardens across Maine!


Search the National Ag in the Classroom Curriculum Matrix for resources


Fuel Up offers educators a wide array of resources they can use to help students make sustainable changes in their school environment.


Agroworld is an agricultural science e-zine developed for the secondary educator.


KidsGardening has ideas about plants and gardens, teacher resources, and grant opportunities.


The Chop Chop magazine and website has easy and healthy recipes.


American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture has curriculum, games, and resources available for educators and students.

Funding from this plate has impacted up to 200,000 students annually with lessons, materials, volunteers and teacher training. Annually up to $60K is distributed in grants to schools, FFA, 4-H and other Non-profit programs for Ag education initiatives by the Maine Agriculture in the Classroom Council.

Donate today to The Maine Agriculture in the Classroom Association. The nonprofit, completely volunteer, portion of MAITC. These funds are used directly to support teacher scholarships and recognition, and support volunteer participation for Ag education programs. Your donation is completely tax deductible and you can make a one-time donation or a recurring monthly donation which will support the mission, "to promote the understanding of agriculture and natural resources among students, educators, and the general public." If you have any other questions or would like to join this group please contact the chairman, Laurie BowenDonate Here.

The MAITC Association is organizing a fundraiser for materials and teacher scholarships this year. Hats and T-shirts with the MAITC logo and a picture of the agriculture specialty license plate are available to order for a small donation. 


For more information contact Nancy Wright at dnwright191@gmail.com

Our Mission Statement
"To promote the understanding of agriculture and natural resources among students, educators, and the general public"  
28 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
(207)287-5522
Facebook  
LinkedIn Share This Email

To sign up for this newsletter, email: kelsey.maitc@gmail.com