Past Grant Recipients

Spring 2022 Oklahoma Pork Council Grant Winners

Jessica Nickels- Garfield County 4-H

Pork Cooking Class

Our summer camp this year is focusing on Ag in our Lives. We will be teaching youth how agriculture affects their everyday lives by teaching them where their food comes from, how every day items they use are made, and how life would look without ag. Part of this will be some cooking lessons. We want to teach youth where pork comes from, different parts of the pig, and how to cook pork. We will also be using the AITC curriculum on making tortillas. With this, we hope to make our lunch at camp by having tortilla wraps with pork as the protein. Our typical enrollment for summer camp is 75. We will include more than cooking pork. With have teen leaders involved in the swine project that will talk about care, feeding, and teach youth how to do ear notches and why they are needed.

Leslie Rollins Chandler Schools

Ag Week

With this project we will be able to explore more hands-on learning through STEAM activities. We will have a full week of Agricultural related activities and challenges in Reading, Language, Math and Science. This will help students engage with where food comes from, the processes to get it to our plates and what the healthy decision is. We will be able to explore with creativity and out of the box thinking. We will also be creating efficient solutions and problem solving to help ranchers.

Quaid Kennan Marlow High School

Farm to Fork

Since the covid-19 pandemic hit the United States, the grocery store isles seem to be a lot less full than they once were. Let's face it, the supply chain shortage has severely impacted how Americans shop for the groceries they need to feed their families. As an agricultural education instructor it is my job to teach students ways to be innovative when they are faced with hardships. This project will allow students to see the true meaning of Farm to Fork. They will have the opportunity to grow different seeds using a hydroponic growing system to see the whole process from seed to harvest. At the time of harvest students will research different recipes using the produce to cook or preserve a meal. They will also partner with an elementary aged classroom to teach about growing plants from seeds. When visiting this classroom my students as well as the elementary students will plant seeds in soil and once they are big enough to transplant, will take them home to grow in their own yard.

Jennifer Crosthwait Skyline Elementary, Stillwater Schools

Chickens

Over the summer and this school year, the Kindergarten teacher and special education teacher developed ideas to design, fundraise and build a chicken coop and run on the Skyline school grounds. This long-term project includes the care and feeding of animals, raising chickens from the egg stage, gathering and storing eggs and selling/donating eggs. The entire school's student base and staff will participate in this agricultural project to help nurture their ability to build relationships, learn life skills and teach responsibility. We currently have all the supplies and support we need for this project and are ready to release the chickens to their new home. We also have a raised cement garden box that will include plants to help supplement our animals' diets and reduce feed costs. An enclosed fence area secures our coops and provides an animal run. We will have a security camera to help keep our animals safe during the nighttime. Students in special education will be involved with the daily care of the animals, working with peers, and working on IEP goals that include social skills, lift skills and following directions. This grant, provided by the Pork Council will be used to purchase and fill tubs with supplemental materials to help teachers and students in our school become comfortable and learn more about our chickens needs as we learn to care for our Skyline Farm Flock. We would like to add lessons and the non-perishable supplies for teachers to check out to teach Ag in the Classroom Poultry lessons. We will work with local farmers and grocery stores to supply the perishable items as needed. We included several lessons that would incorporate every aspect of learning, from art to music, PE to math, science, and literacy. We will also incorporate social studies into our lessons by adding information for local farmers and farms for field trips as well as using our farm to share their knowledge of caring for our school chickens. Some of the lessons and activities included in the first box are Clucking Chickens, Eggology, From Chicken Little to Chicken Big, Hatching Science with Classroom Chicks. Our second box will include gardening lessons and tools such as A garden plot, A tale of Peter Rabbit and Plants Around You. These tubs will be housed in the Library for teachers to check out. We will also add some research ideas for plants that will work in our garden that will benefit both people and chickens. We will also add suggestions for research on chicken behavior. Our school is excited to get the students and teachers involved and give them tools to help them be more successful and relaxed when working with our flock.

Katie Brassfield Union City

Greenhouse

At the beginning of the 2021 school year, Union City Intermediate School began executing a new operating system. Our students in fifth through eighth grade complete core subjects in the morning periods, and now have access to electives, and career exploration classes in the afternoon. Intermediate teachers were allowed to choose their own subject for electives. Having an agricultural background, being familiar with Ag in the Classroom resources, and seeing the disconnect between students and their rural, agricultural surroundings made the decision easy for me. I must introduce my students to the agricultural industry, and we don't have to travel far to do that! I use Ag in the Classroom resources daily in my classroom. However, for this particular grant I am seeking funds to help our newly established greenhouse operation. The greenhouses have already been purchased for the school. My students have spent the last few weeks putting together our greenhouses and stabilizing them for outdoor conditions. We have used Ag in the Classroom resources posted under the “Flowers, Fruits and Vegetables” section to establish some background knowledge before we start this new endeavor. We plan to get seeds started in the greenhouse by the end of February. Items we need to purchase are containers, water hoses, thermometers, soil, seeds, and gloves. This is our first year to operate this program, but we hope to be successful and offer a fruit and vegetable sale to the community in the spring. My students are excited to get our greenhouses established and involve the whole school community with our vegetable and flower production.

Teresa Brunnemer Morrison Elementary

Cooking

Throughout the years, I have used many of the Ag in the Classroom cooking lessons in my classroom. This year I have loved the addition of the commodity activity sheets and the cooking activities that are highlighted in them. I realize that even though I teach in a rural community, that most of my students are far removed from the family farm. Using the Ag in the Classroom lessons and resources allows me to build a foundation of agricultural literacy, so that they can not only learn in my classroom but go home and share the experiences with their families. I have come to realize that I am lacking in many resources to complete the cooking activities in my classroom. While I am close to the cafeteria, it would be amazing to be able to complete the cooking in front of the students. I will be requesting some cooking equipment and additional resources to purchase items to prepare in the classroom.