Summary 2021 — Wyoming

State Contact

Innovative Programming Conducted and Educational Resources Developed

• Interactive Maps to support the Bookmark and Beyond Program: https://wyaitc.org/our-work/bookmark/
• Minor revisions made to the Wyoming Stewardship Project: https://wyaitc.org/curriculum/

Major Program Impacts or Outcomes

For all classrooms teaching our curriculum, the Wyoming Stewardship Project, we track through surveys the outcomes for students. In total from the surveys collected, teachers recognized the following student growth:

• 83% of students increased their critical thinking skills
• 88% of students realized the economic impact of Wyoming's natural resources
• 93% of students understand the information in the units

The Wyoming Stewardship Project is making a difference for students. There is no guarantee that outside of our curriculum, students would have exposure to our major economic drivers in Wyoming. Additionally, students took the information from the units, recognized jobs in Wyoming, and the importance of agriculture, minerals & energy, as well as outdoor recreation & tourism for our state.

We would like to share responses of both teachers and students after experiencing the WSP units.

"Even though we're not adults, we can be good stewards, too!" – 4th Grade students from Amanda Connally's class at Moorcroft K-8

"My students learned there are so many more jobs available in Wyoming! Examples given are truck drivers, miners, drillers, train engineers." – Lori Backen, 4th Grade Teacher, Moorcroft K-8, Moorcroft

"I teach Wyoming history in fourth grade, and I am so thankful for these well-developed units and all of the valuable resources on your website. I used the slideshows, passages, and virtual field trips. Thank you for making these amazing resources that supported me in teaching agricultural, energy, and tourism. Using the overall theme of stewardship was a great way to tie all of these things together. I am grateful to you for supplying this curriculum. Well done!" – Ann Wise, 4th Grade Teacher, Wagonwheel Elementary, Gillette

Program Leader Biosketch

Jessie Dafoe joined Wyoming Agriculture in the Classroom (WAIC) as their Executive Director in 2011. Prior to working for WAIC, Dafoe interned for Representative Cynthia Lummis and worked for the Wyoming Resource Alliance. Jessie graduated from the University of Wyoming with her bachelor’s degree in 2010 and MBA in 2021. She is a member of the 2014 Leadership Wyoming class.