State Programs
State Summary 2010 — Iowa
State Contact
Ms. Barbara Lykins
Iowa Farm Bureau Federation
5400 University Avenue
West Des Moines, IA 50266
P: 515.225.5460
F: 515.225.5661
E: blykins@ifbf.org
Website
Classroom Resources
An Ag in the Classroom volunteer page was launched on the iowafarmbureau.com website. The page is a resource for lesson plan ideas as well as a method to share current information.
Major Program Accomplishments or Outputs
The 2010 Teachers Academy for Agricultural Awareness was a major success with the class members reporting these classroom/student results as a followup to their participation: -100% of class can list 3 reasons why soil is important to us. -100% of class was able to write a pledge on how they will conserve our soil and food supply. -18 out of 19 students can now put the steps in the correct order for how milk goes from the farm to your table. -100% of my students (3rd grade) can name 3 food products and 3 by-products from beef. -88% of my 3rd grade students can put the stages of a butterfly's life cycle in the correct order. -90% can give the servings needed in each food group and 96% can name 4 or more examples of food from each food group. -Class wrote essays on how farmers, community workers and students are working to make land more productive. -Increased awareness of how pollution affects many things around us.
Major Program Impacts or Outcomes
227 teachers, day care providers, professional and volunteer educators responded on a 2009-10 Connecting Learning Living (CLL) evaluation and revealed these outputs and outcomes for 12,814 youth. a. CLL was used in all subject matter areas, PreK-12, 66% were in grades K-4. b. 172 outdoor classrooms were used including 25 farms. c. More than 80% had a new understanding of the food they ate, made a new connection with nature, made comments reflecting new knowledge. d. 296 examples of changes in students' knowledge with these top content areas: characteristics of plants (33), gardening and farming (29), where food comes from (24), choosing healthy foods (21), food categories/MyPyramid (20) e. 178 examples of changes in students' attitudes with these top themes: excitement/joy/anticipation/engagement in the learning process, more respect/are for the environment/natural resources, tried new foods, shared information with others such as family and friends. f. 140 examples of changes in students' behaviors with these top responses: more engagement/participation/positive behaviors, voluntarily cared for the environment, demonstrated water and soil conservation practices, helped parents shop and make healthy food choices, chose healthy foods for lunch and snacks, more interest in doing activities outdoors.
Biosketch
Barbara Lykins, is the Director Community Resources for the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation. She directs and facilitates the ag in the classroom program. In this position, she partners with other state organizations on the Teachers Academies and administers an Iowa Teacher Supplement Loan program. Lykins serves on the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation Management Team and has been employed by the Iowa Farm Bureau for twenty-six years in a variety of leadership and management capacities.