Teacher Center
Excellence in Teaching Award 2001
Mrs. Joanne Witschorke teaches fourth grade at Mountain Valley Elementary School in Canyon Lake, Texas. Her involvement with Ag in the Classroom began in 1978. She was one of the teachers who pilot tested the lessons in the original "Texas Agriculture Resource Guide." She is an AITC development consultant and county AITC volunteer coordinator. Joanne's work across the school district and among community organizations are commendable. She does a very good job describing the impact that incorporating agriculture has on her students and how this helps her to meet Texas State Standards. Joanne creatively used heritage, history, social studies, language arts, math and science to teach students the "Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills." Students were able to see the connections of agriculture throughout history and to its relevance to today.