Jefferson County Farm Bureau hosts Agriculture Integration Giveaway

To kick off the 2025-2026 school year, Jefferson County Farm Bureau hosted an Agriculture Integration Giveaway to recognize and reward educators who bring agricultural topics into their classrooms. The initiative was open to all teachers in the Pekin and Fairfield School Districts, with no grade-level restrictions. Participants were asked to complete a form with nine questions detailing how they incorporate agriculture into their teaching, why they believe it’s important, and how the prize would benefit their classroom.

The response was outstanding, with 16 entries submitted by teachers ranging from Kindergarten through 12th Grade. Due to the outstanding quality of submissions, Jefferson County Farm Bureau upgraded the prize to honor three exceptional educators.

Congratulations to Melinda Lyon for winning the $100 Amazon gift card! Melinda teaches 5th Grade at Fairfield Middle School. She integrates agriculture into both science and math lessons. Her students explore topics like erosion, plant survival, and calculating brain bin volume. With her husband actively, farming, agriculture is a personal and professional passion. “We live in rural Iowa where agriculture is all over. It is the backbone of our country,” Melinda shared. “Less and less people understand all that goes into agriculture and farming. If we don’t integrate it into our teaching, fewer people will understand it.”

Congratulations to Aundera Tubb for winning one of the $50 gift cards! Aundera teaches 4th Grade at Pence Elementary School. She uses Iowa Ag Magazines to teach students about Iowa’s agricultural evolution and geography, aligning with social studies standards. She believes agricultural education is essential: “It is important to incorporate agriculture into our curriculum because it is real-world knowledge that students need to have and continue to know about.”

Lastly, congratulations to Cory Klehm for winning the other $50 gift card! Cory teaches 6th Grade at Fairfield Middle School. Cory’s classroom is a hub of agricultural exploration. His students engage in seed saving, introduction to planting (commercial and garden), plant growth cycle, growing vegetable plants from seed, water quality in Iowa, and farming practices (cover crops, rotational planting, etc.). “We all live in an agricultural state where most students are no longer part of the farm,” Cory explained. “The lack of agricultural knowledge has led to misconceptions, which in turn has caused many issues for our community and state. By covering agricultural topics in the classroom, all students in our community are educated on the current trends, topics, and future of agriculture.”

Jefferson County Farm Bureau wants to thank all the participating educators who took time to compete in the Agriculture Integration Giveaway! Your efforts ensure that students gain meaningful, real-world knowledge about the vital role agriculture plays in our communities and economy.