For Immediate Release

10th Amazing Agriculture Adventure Salutes Teachers and Ag Literacy

(Winnipeg, MB September 24, 2009) – To celebrate ten years of the Amazing Agriculture Adventure, AITC-M has announced plans to recognize Manitoba educators who have gone the extra mile to bring agriculture to their classrooms.

“One teacher will be recognized annually as our province's Agriculture Literacy ALL STAR. This teacher will receive a free trip to the international US Agriculture in the Classroom conference where they can meet and share ideas with other teachers from around the world,” said President Scott Van Alstyne. “There are countless teachers in our province working to ensure that agriculture-related lessons are learned both in and outside the classroom. We felt this was a great way to recognize these leaders and give them the opportunity to experience some new teaching methods at the conference and bring back some creative ideas to Manitoba to share with their students and other teachers.”

During the 10th annual Amazing Agriculture Adventure, an adventurous group of grade 4 and 5 students learned all about agriculture at two working farms last week. From the farm gate to the products they eat and use every day, they learned the ins and outs of agriculture one station at a time.

The Amazing Agriculture Adventure is a program designed to give students a hands-on interactive experience with all aspects of agriculture. The ten year celebration in Winnipeg was all that more amazing with the event being held at two new venues: Richardson’s Kelburn Farm and The University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences’ Glenlea Research Station.

“Agriculture in the Classroom – Manitoba is dedicated to cultivating an interest in agriculture, and the Amazing Agriculture Adventure is one of our most critical programs. We were thrilled to partner with Richardson International Ltd. and The Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences to offer a real farm experience to the students,” says executive director Johanne Ross. “The teachers were very impressed with the two new venues and students were enthusiastically enjoying the sights, sounds and yes, even the smells of the farms they experienced. Seeing machinery in the field behind them and observing animals in their actual barns was an added highlight to the event this year.”

Over 1,000 amazing students attended this agriculture adventure last week, spending the day split between Kelburn Farm and Glenlea Research Farm. Students worked their way through 18 interactive stations at the two venues to learn about the many different aspects of agriculture. From crushing canola, to the inner workings of a combine and the difference between meat and milk producing cattle, the students got their minds full and their hands dirty. With strong support from its many industry partners, the Amazing Agriculture Adventure provides a fun and interactive field trip experience for grade 4 and 5 students and the opportunity to learn more about the agriculture community.

The Agriculture Literacy ALL STAR award is open to any teacher in Manitoba and nomination forms are available online at www.aitc.mb.ca. AITC-M's first Ag Literacy ALL STAR will be announced in the spring of 2010.

Agriculture in the Classroom- Manitoba Inc. is a non-profit organization supported by individuals and the agriculture industry. The organization runs several programs throughout the year including the Amazing Agriculture Adventure, the Made in Manitoba Breakfast program, farm tours and other special events. AITC-M also develops and distributes teacher resources to help deliver agriculture information for use within the school curriculum.

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For more information, please contact:

Johanne Ross

Executive Director

Agriculture in the Classroom-Manitoba Inc.

(866) 487-4029

(204) 867-0437 (cell)

johanne@aitc.mb.ca www.aitc.mb.ca