The Jefferson County Farm Bureau recently hosted an Agriculture Integration Giveaway to recognize educators in the Pekin and Fairfield Community School Districts who incorporate agricultural concepts into their classrooms, according to a press release from the organization.
The giveaway was open to all teachers regardless of grade level, and drew an outstanding response — 19 educators from preschool through high school submitted applications highlighting the ways they connect students to agriculture through hands-on learning, literacy, science, and classroom activities.
First place was awarded to Nicole Stoutner, a first-grade teacher at Washington Elementary School in Fairfield, who received a $100 Amazon gift card. Stoutner plans to expand agriculture-focused lessons within her literacy block this school year. One of her first lessons centered around cows, as students read the fable The Milkmaid and the Pail. Stoutner also participates in monthly Agriculture in the Classroom visits with Outreach Coordinator Hailey Shultz and hopes to hatch chicks for Jefferson County 4-H this spring. She plans to use the gift card to purchase agriculture-related books, wool and wool-dyeing supplies for sheep lessons, cream for making butter during dairy units, and other hands-on resources.
Second place went to Gina Swearingen, a preschool teacher at Pekin Elementary School, who received a $50 Amazon gift card. Swearingen incorporates agriculture into her classroom through farm-themed learning centers, books, and sensory table activities featuring corn. After 36 years of teaching preschool, many of her farm animal and farm machinery toys have become worn or damaged, and she plans to use the gift card to purchase new farm animal figures and farm equipment toys to enhance students’ imaginative play and learning experiences.
Third place was awarded to Lani Boyd, a Title I Reading teacher who works with kindergarten and first-grade students at Washington Elementary School, who received a $25 Amazon gift card. Boyd plans to integrate agricultural vocabulary and themes into reading passages used during small-group instruction and hopes to purchase age-appropriate decodable readers and farm and tractor-themed letter and sound games to strengthen early literacy skills — particularly for students who already have an interest in agriculture.
The Jefferson County Farm Bureau thanked all 19 educators who participated and recognized their commitment to helping students make connections between agriculture and everyday life.
