Author: Megan Allison
Megan Allison, her husband and their two sons farm in Dade County. She teaches at Lockwood elementary school. A past member of the MOFB Promotion & Education Committee, Allison has participated in the National Ag in the Classroom conference multiple times and was teacher of the year in 2023.
Fields upon fields of wheat. That’s what I grew up around in the middle of a relatively large suburban area. I couldn’t tell you one thing about farming or how the agricultural industry worked. Now here I am, many years later, a farmer’s wife, the mother of two little farm boys and a rural school educator. When I began my teaching career, I knew I would need to do my part in sharing agricultural knowledge with my students. Just because they live in a rural community doesn’t mean their family is involved in agriculture. Many of them are not aware of what’s going on around them, just like me as a kid.
I learned about Ag in the Classroom (AITC) while teaching in Oklahoma, and I started getting involved there before moving to Missouri. From that prior experience, I knew I wanted to continue with AITC, but I had no idea what was available until I got involved with Missouri Farm Bureau (MOFB). Much to my surprise, I was selected as Missouri’s ag teacher of the year in 2023, which gave me the opportunity to attend my first National AITC conference. I’ve gone every year since because the conference is that amazing and worthwhile!
This conference is where my AgLab “FriYAY” was born! I return from each conference knowing I need more resources for these fun ideas in my ag lessons, but some can be a bit pricey. For instance, I learned about hydroponics in the classroom at one of the sessions. I just had to get my hands on a grow tower, pronto! Thankfully, I heard about the MOFB mini-grants for teachers, so I began planning my proposal for the next submission to help fund this project for my students.
There are two levels of mini-grants: individuals can apply for $250, and groups can receive up to $500. Grow towers are expensive, so I teamed up with my ELA teaching partner to turn it into a group project. I’d do the science of hydroponics, and she’d do the reading, writing and research side of the project.
My students absolutely loved growing lettuce in our grow tower, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the MOFB mini-grant. It was neat to see my students proud of their accomplishment, and we celebrated with a salad party using our classroom-raised lettuce. It was a full-circle moment for all of us. I hope they remember how they can play a role in agriculture and not just what the ag industry can do for them.
Teachers, if you haven’t checked out the lesson matrix at agclassroom.org, then you’re truly missing out on some incredible ideas to put agriculture lessons into your classroom. The current opportunity to apply for the MOFB mini-grant program closes at the end of the month. The application process is super simple. Posted at mofb.org, the quick application asks for information about your lesson plan, the cost of your materials and how many students will be impacted. It’s so easy, but the due date is coming up. Get your proposals in soon!
