As generations become further and further removed from the farm, children and adults alike know shockingly little about the source of their food, fiber and fuel or how agriculture impacts daily life. 

The Mission of Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom (IAITC) is to teach Illinois children agriculture’s importance and the vital role it plays in their lives and society.  IAITC supports local educational and outreach efforts by providing high quality, standards based, scientifically sound agriculture information that can be easily integrated by teachers into the existing classroom curriculum.  The objective is that Pre-K through High School teachers will continue to teach required subjects while infusing their existing resource materials with agriculture related topics, resulting in students who will grow up with an understanding and appreciation for the state of Illinois’’ number one industry. 

IAITC leaders believe, as do many supporters, that children who are better educated on specialty food and agriculture issues will make more informed and healthier food and lifestyle choices, make better decisions as they grow older in regards to specialty farm and food policy, and understand the importance and diversity of agriculture. 

Agricultural education curricular resources target healthy lifestyles, renewable resources, science and technology, sustainable agriculture and leadership skills while helping students understand the role of agriculture in their lives and in society. IAITC delivers the message to teachers, teachers deliver the message to students, and the agriculture industry wins.

The IAITC program ultimately provides students an opportunity to learn about science and agriculture through hands-on classroom experiences under the direction of their teachers or county Agricultural Literacy Coordinators. These individuals are the front line educators who provide teacher training, classroom presentations, and program coordination in counties throughout Illinois.  They represent IAITC with great dedication, expertise, and enthusiasm.

Through generous support received by the IAA Foundation the following are made possible:

  • County Ag Literacy Grants - County grants are a part of the IAITC program. Funds from a variety of partnering organizations will help support 65 current and 3 new County Ag Literacy Coalitions. County Ag Literacy programs in turn raise matching funds at the local level to implement programs.
  • Ag Mags - Ag Mags are 4-color tabloid type resources, featuring specific Illinois Agricultural commodities and issues. They are linked with the Illinois Learning Standards, Illinois Assessment Framework and feature facts, career interviews and scientific experiments. Due to the increased demand, we print 140,000 copies of these each printing.
  • Teacher Resource Guides - Re-prints of the popular resource guides will make these materials available for distribution through the County Agriculture in the Classroom system.
  • Summer Ag Institutes - These week-long classroom teacher training institutes are hosted by universities, community colleges and county Farm Bureau’s. A $950 maximum grant is allowed per institute. We anticipate forty plus Institutes in 2009-2010.

  • Teacher Grants - Up to seventy-two $250 grants will be awarded to teachers utilizing unique agriculture information in their classroom. Grants are showcased on www.agintheclassroom.org and in local media. In 2008-2009, 41 teacher grants were awarded.
  • Ag Related Lessons and Units

2008-2009 IAITC Growth and Success

  • $400,000 in grants were distributed to County Ag Literacy programs by the IAA Foundation.  The funds were raised through special events and contributed by very generous donors
  • Illinois counties invested over $2.2 million on IAITC efforts
  • Nearly 500,000 students in grades preK-12 were reached with IAITC message
  • Nearly 30,000 teachers used IAITC materials throughout the school year

  • Over 800 teachers participated in Summer Agricultural Institutes

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