The 2024 National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference "Agriculture Elevated" was held June 24-27 in Salt Lake City. This premier professional development event for Pre-K through 12th-grade teachers, volunteers, and professionals in agricultural literacy inspired attendees to teach through the lens of agriculture!

Over 500 attendees participated in the national three-day conference.   The Utah Ag in the Classroom program, housed at Utah State University,  is known for its exemplary and innovative curriculum, activities, and programs. For the past 11 years, Denise Stewardson has been the UAITC director and retired at the end of June. We offer our congratulations and thanks to Denise for the great work she has done to provide real-world, experiential resources and lesson plans that target Utah core standards and objectives in K-12 classrooms.

Utah Farm Bureau warmly welcomes Bekka Israelsen as she assumed her position as the new director of Utah Ag in the Classroom. We look forward to working together to promote Ag in the Classroom to all Utah teachers.

Conference attendees had the opportunity to attend one of nine traveling workshops and scores of hands-on ag literacy classes packed with fun and free resources. Conferencegoers could visit with exhibitors, enjoy Utah’s Own products, and develop friendships and connections with people all over the United States.

“One really cool thing was how many people from all over were there,” said JaNae Titmus, a sheep rancher from Tooele County at the Vice Chair of the Utah Farm Bureau’s Women’s Leadership Committee. “I had two women from South Korea that I helped check-in. I was blown away that they came that far. They taught at an agricultural school there and wanted to get good teaching ideas to take back and I'm sure they did.”

A new program was announced at the conference.  Four years in the making, Agricultural Literacy Certification will be ready to roll out in October. Developed by Debra Spielmaker, Amy Spielmaker, and Rose Judd-Murray, the program equips online learners with research-based agricultural content and provides pedagogical methods, strategies, and tools to elevate your teaching game and inspire the next generation. We invite you to earn your Agricultural Literacy Certification. Course completers will earn a digital badge demonstrating they are ready to communicate the “value of agriculture as it affects our quality of life.”

If you couldn’t attend the AITC Conference in June, there is another exciting opportunity coming up.  The 2024 AITC Virtual Conference will be held July 18 from 10 AM-2:45 PM Eastern time.  Registration is free. Register online at agclassroom.org/conference. The keynote speaker is author, Jacqueline Briggs Martin and there are Elementary and Secondary tracks to choose from.