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National Agriculture in the Classroom

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Summary 2020 — Mississippi

State Contact

Ms Clara Bilbo
Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation
P.O. Box 1972
Jackson, MS 39215-1972
P: 601.977.4245
E: cbilbo@msfb.org
Website

Innovative Programming Conducted and Educational Resources Developed

Report from 2018

The projects completed in 2018 were updated resource guides for teachers grade K-6. They were the following units: Beef: A Healthy Option, Caring for the Land, Honey Fermentation, Worm Composting / Vermicomposting and Dairy. These guides are full of ready to use lesson plans divided into the following subject areas: math, science, health, language arts, and social studies. Each lesson is matched to state standards on all the resources. These units were distributed across the state and used at teacher workshops. Promotional pieces such as activity sheets, and a different commodity table topper along with a bookmark for each month. The commodities are Beef, Catfish, Cotton, Equine, Forestry, Grains, Honey Bee, Horticulture, Rice, Peanuts, Poultry and Eggs, Sweet Potatoes, and various vegetable units. A spin-wheel game with Mississippi Commodities, Honey, Jeopardy Game, Dairy Trivia, Understanding Soil, Things You Never Knew About Agriculture, Nutrition, When Is A Cow More Than A Cow, The Amazing Cow Activities and Cotton Trivia. The Cotton Gin machine was shown to be a great success again this year. This program has helped students understand how cotton goes from the field to the clothes they wear. The activities with "Lilly Belle", our Holstein dairy cow made of fiberglass and mounted on a fiberglass base was the most requested for 2018. She will moo and you can milk her. She attended AITC activities at school, clubs, county and state fairs, church functions, teacher workshops and city functions. "Lilly Belle" was very busy traveling throughout the State. There were various programs presented regarding A Day With a Cow, Dairy Trivia, Ice Cream in a Bag, and Tell Me About Butter. The Book of the Year The First Peas to the Table was a very popular book. They were reordered two times.

Major Program Impacts or Outcomes

Report from 2018

  • Over 400,000 visited Children's Museum where AITC was taught by teacher we provided along with material and program each Friday. $30,000 donated to have agriculture section.
  • Ag Mag newsletters 200,000 distributed. 90,000 provided to schools, fairs, etc.
  • $4,000 presented for Ambassador Scholarship.
  • $5,500 donated to The Mustard Seed to provide material and items for their adults with developmental disabilities.
  • $12,000 scholarships awarded to 4 females majoring in Ag.
  • $5,000 donated to Itawamba Crossroads Ranch, to provide and educate special need adults who can acquire skills to work on the ranch in various enterprises, experience pride in their ability to maintain supervised independence and grow socially, emotionally and spiritually.
  • $6,000 raised to place on funds for AITC Workshops.
  • 80,000 kids visited Children's Barn at the 159th State Fair and received educational material about animal health and human nutrition.
  • 300 students participated at Mid-South Fair Ag Day.
  • Distributed over 100,000 Halloween Safety tips.
  • 3,000 students attended National Ag Day.
  • Thousands of Ag Mag issues were presented at schools, clubs, fair, churches etc.
  • 3% increase on 8 Teacher Workshops held with 400 attending and 185 received CEU credit.
  • $2,000 grant awarded to Teacher of the Year.
  • 1% increase on Partner with 4-H Program in Leadership Training, over 258 attended.
  • Over 400 FFA students taught with our ag units to help people understand importance of agriculture.
  • 185 teachers attended AITC Workshop.
  • 50% increase in Dairy material distributed to educate the public about agriculture due to AITC Traveling Trailer with "Lilly Belle" the Dairy Cow.
  • 15% increase in Cotton Gin programs and units to educate the public about agriculture and it's importance.
  • Commodity information bookmarks distributed over 200,000.
  • Commodity table toppers Increased 8% on the over 100,000 distributed due to schools ordering ones for the school year.
  • 4% increase on teachers receiving CEU credit.
  • 15% material increase for home school contacts.
  • 5% increase in coloring contest sheets distributed, total count 180,000.
  • 5% increase in Art Contest participation.
  • Over 200,000 students and teachers were addressed with the traveling cow, cotton gin and nutrition program in 2018.
  • $2,000 donated to help build a new Children's Hospital ICU.

Program Leader Biosketch

Report from 2018

Serve as Coordinator of the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation Women's Programs and Ag in the Classroom Programs. Graduate of Belhaven College. Has been employed with Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation for 34 years. Serves on seven committees regarding agriculture.