Cream of the Crop

January 2008

Imagine this... Story Writing Contest - State Winners!
Six state winners and two honorable mentions have been chosen from thousands of stories written by students from across California. These creative tales describe how agriculture is an integral part of the state and demonstrate the quality of appreciation for farming and ranching that the authors have achieved. Each story will be published in a soft cover book. The state winning stories will be fully illustrated by high school art students. The book will be released during National Ag Week, March 16-22, 2008, and stories will be available online after January 11. Congratulations!

 

State Winners

 

The Best Orange Tree Ever

by Hanna Bopp

3rd Grade, Fresno County

Kerman-Floyd Elementary - Marie Motta, Teacher

 

Farmer's Pride in Feeding America

by McKenzie Carvalho

4th Grade, Colusa County

Maxwell Elementary - Dianna Detlefsen, Teacher

 

The Swap

by Chance Holley

5th Grade, Stanislaus County

Chatom Elementary - Nancy Harris, Teacher

 

It's Not Easy Being a Green Teen Drama Queen

by Mackenzie Morton

6th Grade, Stanislaus County

Yolo Middle School - Shelia Kendall, Teacher

 

Marvelous Missy

by Preston Munson

7th Grade, Siskiyou County

Scott Valley Jr. High - Tracy Dickinson, Teacher

 

Water Flowing Keeps Crops Growing

by Russell Sweet

8th Grade, Siskiyou County

Grenada Elementary - Debbi Hoy, Teacher

 

Honorable Mentions

 

Ag Riculture Reporting

by Mary McCallister

5th Grade, Lake County

Kelseyville Elementary - Rochelle Bell, Teacher

 

The Future of the Family Farm

by Jack Sweet

6th Grade, Siskiyou County

Grenada Elementary - Debbi Hoy, Teacher

What's Growin' On? Teacher's Supplement
The Teacher's Supplement to the sixth edition of What's Growin' On?, Planting Healthy Lives, is now available! Use this teaching guide, aligned to state standards, to extend the topics and classroom activities presented in the student newspaper. Includes word search, crossword, bee math, critical thinking and creative writing prompts, and more.
Download from the CFAITC Web site or receive a hard copy when you request a class set of the newspapers.

Garden Workshops
Try these workshops, and more from the CSGN and CFAITC Event Calendar, for inspiration when bringing gardens to your students.

School Garden Bus Tour (Life Lab Science Program)

Jan. 23, 2008, Monterey County

This year's School Garden Tour will focus on Farm to School Programs.

Saturday in the Nutrition Garden (Network for a Healthy California - LAUSD)

Jan. 26, 2008, Los Angeles County

First in a series of three, this workshop is about creating and sustaining your school garden with a nutrition focus.

Planning Your School Garden Program (School Garden Network of El Dorado County)

Jan. 30, 2008, El Dorado County

Topics will include curricular resources, building a support network and organizational structure for your program, year-round school garden guidelines and tasks and setting your garden goals and breaking down the steps.

Producepedia
How many types of honeydew melons are there? How many calories are there in a carrot? How many ways can a chestnut be eaten? Visit Producepedia, a new site from Western Growers, to learn about California's and Arizona's commodities and the farmers that produce them. Includes history, nutrition, fun facts, seasonality, and "Face of a Farmer" profiles.
Visit www.producepedia.com to learn more about your favorite fruit, vegetable, or nut.

Journey North: A Global Study of Wildlife Migration
Spring Projects begin Feb. 1, 2008
Journey North engages students in a global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. K-12 students share their own field observations with classmates across North America. They track the coming of spring through the migration patterns of monarch butterflies, birds, and other mammals, plus the budding of plants, changing sunlight and other natural events. This free program includes online database to track findings with mapped reports, standards-based lesson plans, and teacher resources. How do wildlife and the environment affect agriculture?
Visit www.learner.org/jnorth to register and learn about this season's projects.

Free Rice
Improve your vocabulary and help provide a staple to hundreds of thousands across the world. For each correct answer to the multiple choice definition quiz, 20 grains of rice are donated through the World Food Programme (United Nations) to populations in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and more. The very real results of this virtual game are funded by a banner ad displayed on each page.
To participate, visit www.freerice.com, to learn more about fighting hunger, visit www.wfp.org.