State Programs
State Summary 2011 — Virginia
State Contact
Ms. Tammy Maxey
Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom
P.O. Box 27552
Richmond, VA 23261
P: 804.290.1143
E: tammy.maxey@vafb.com
Website
Classroom Resources
Volume Two of AITC's Sprout mini-magazines for students were created and distributed to teachers attending AITC workshops. Topics were Funky Foods, Gardening, and Careers.
Farmer Ben Bulletins were created to support the volunteer efforts of Farm Bureau leaders and others interested in supporting agriculture. Topics were Soybeans, Beef, and Careers.
An activity book was developed to accompany the Farmer Ben Ready, Set, Grow! Book created by AITC.
Two newsletters were sent out to teachers which included information articles, lesson plans, and book suggestions. Topics were Soil and Wooly Animals. Http://www.agintheclass.org/Teachers/Pages/Newsletter.aspx
Major Program Accomplishments or Outputs
Virginia AITC's curriculum and resource offerings continued to expand with the addition of a workshop series and lessons dedicated to the PreK audience. Other new curriculum pieces, such as AITC's Barnyard Banter literacy connections were featured online. In addition, an activity book was developed to accompany the AITC original book, Ready, Set, Grow.
The inaugural Virginia Agriculture Literacy Week was a huge success, with approximately 54,000 children read to by over 1700 volunteers during the course of this event.
Lastly, teacher participation in the program hit an all-time high with 2120 teachers attending AITC workshops, which was a 12% increase over the previous year. AITC's impact was further strengthened when we were invited to present at several educational conferences and added several new university connections. Workshops and conference presentations feature hands-on, standards-aligned lessons and provide teachers with curriculum and resources to use in their classrooms.
Major Program Impacts or Outcomes
The past year has been another record year for workshop attendance with 2,120 teachers attending AITC staff development workshops. These teachers impacted approximately 72,150 students. Of these teachers over 98% stated that they would recommend the workshop to another teacher. Further, over 92% reported that the workshop had changed their opinion and attitude towards agriculture.
12,815 visits were made to the AITC website. Once on the website, visitors were able to download over 150 different lesson plans as well as literacy connections, WebQuests, and supplemental resources.
Over 54,000 students were visited and read to during Agriculture Literacy Week. These students learned about the wide variety of agricultural operations and products in the state.
Two newsletters were each sent to over 11,000 teachers on the topics of Soil and Wooly Animals.
Biosketch
I am graduate of James Madison University in Harrisburg, VA. I hold a BS and MBA from JMU. I have worked for VA AITC for 13 years first as Director of Development and currently as Executive Director of the Foundation.