Daily Newsletters
Account
Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
319-653-2191
Jefferson County Extension and Jefferson County Farm Bureau host summer teacher workshop
From Aug. 1-2, 17 teachers attended the “Agriculture in Your Community” summer teacher workshop hosted by Jefferson County Extension and Jefferson County Farm Bureau, in partnership with the Iowa Ag Literacy Foundation.
This workshop was provided free to teachers, allowing them the opportunity to learn about tours, hands-on activities, and resources that are available in their communities that can be used in their classrooms. Teachers also had the option to purchase licensure renewal and graduate credit. While many teachers were local, there were also teachers present from many school districts across southeast Iowa and a few from school districts in other parts of Iowa.
Teachers spent the first day of the workshop touring local farms and businesses on a bus. The first stop was JD Hollingsworth’s farm near Packwood. JD explained the use of cover crops on his family’s farm, the benefit of them, and the types of cover crops that can be used.
The next stop was at Tony Adrian’s farm to visit his beef cattle operation. Tony explained the market for his beef and how he uses byproducts to supplement his feed, offsetting costs. He also explained his pig operation and the biosecurity methods he uses. The Jefferson County Cattlemen provided hot beef sundaes for lunch at Lake Darling, near Brighton.
In the afternoon, teachers visited Blueberry Bottom, a you-pick blueberry farm near Coppock. Kim Andersen, owner of the blueberry farm, explained how she got her start into the business, how the business operates, and then allowed teachers time to pick and enjoy sampling some of the blueberries. The last stop of the day was at Premier One Supply, south of Washington. There, the shepherd discussed their sheep flock operation and provided a tour of the sheep, goats, and chickens. Teachers were also able to meet and learn more about their herding dogs.
The second day of the workshop took place at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. The day began with JD Hollingsworth and Jason Steele, from the NRCS office, demonstrating the importance of cover crops and no till for preventing erosion by the use of the Rainfall Simulator. They also demonstrated a couple of experiments that would be easy for teachers to replicate in their classrooms.
Next, Brittney Tiller of Jefferson County Conservation led a lesson about “Bison and Their Uses.” She brought in many parts of a bison, having teachers guess what their original uses would have been for the Native Americans. She then explain what each part was and what is was used for or what it may be still used for today by Native American people. The rest of the morning, Cathryn Carney and Alex Osborn, of the Iowa Ag Literacy Foundation, demonstrated lessons that teachers could use about agriculture for their classrooms, as well as the resources that can be found on their website. Teachers then enjoyed a taco dinner, followed by another lesson from Cathryn and Alex.
In the afternoon, teachers were able to tour Agri-Industrial Plastics of Fairfield. They learned about the history of the company, the careers available in the company, and the tours that are available for students. To finish out the day, Courtney Burkhalter, of Jefferson County Extension, and Makenna Myers, of Jefferson County Farm Bureau, led a lesson titled “Pigs on the Farm,” which teachers can use in their classrooms to teach students about the basic needs of pigs to live and grow.
Extension and Farm Bureau would like to thank those who provided tours as a part of the workshop and those who presented to the teachers. We would also like to thank the Jefferson County Cattlemen for providing lunch. To learn more about the Iowa Ag Literacy Foundation and to find lessons that can be used in the classroom, visit: https://www.iowaagliteracy.org/
