Ag in the Classroom volunteer shares story

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. — Megan Ramsey has been volunteering to teach children about agriculture since 2014.

She was named Agriculture in the Classroom Volunteer of the Year by Indiana Farm Bureau in 2021.

Through the Agriculture in the Classroom program, registered volunteers visit classrooms to teach more than 60,000 students about agriculture through in-class lessons, hands-on activities, educational events, on-farm experiences and field trips.

Ramsey shared her story with AgriNews.

Q: Tell me a little about your family farm.

A: My husband, Joey, and I live on our farm with our four daughters: Raelynn, 11; Anessa, 10; Molly, 7; and Suzette, 3. On our farm we grow soybeans, corn and wheat.

Our farm is run by my father-in-law, my husband and one of his older brothers. We also run an excavating business on the side.

Our girls are in 4-H and show cattle, pigs and, new this year, alpacas, which we are renting from a friend.

Q: When did you start volunteering with Ag in the Classroom?

A: I started volunteering in 2014.

Q: What are some of your favorite ag education books?

A: Oh, there are so many really good ag education books. One of my favorites to read is “How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin.” This story follows Mr. Tiffin’s class as they decide how to count their pumpkin seeds, from small, medium and large pumpkins, to see which one has the most seeds. They decide on counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s. With this book we also make pumpkin pie in a bag.

Another good ag education book is the Indiana Farm Bureau Book of the Year, “My Family’s Soybean Farm,” by Katie Olthoff. It is told from her son’s point of view, about how their family farm is run. Super cute book.

After I read this to the kids, we made “bean-ie” babies. It’s where we place a soybean in a small bag, place water beads inside the bag, string them on yarn, and the kids wear them to keep them warm. They get to watch their soybeans grow.

This experiment is fun for all ages to do. Even adults love it.

Q: What kinds of activities do you do with kids?

A: I do so many activities with the kids. In September, I do an apple lesson, where we try five different kinds of apples. They have to use their five senses to describe what they are eating.

October is pumpkins. November is corn. I show them how we can make corn plastic in the microwave.

December is soybeans. January, we learned about how to grow a pizza. We start with the crust and talk about each topping of the pizza, like how it started out, to how it is processed.

March, I read them the story, “Compost Stew,” and they learn how to make their own compost bin. They even make one for the classroom.

April is for seeds and flowers. I read “Oh Say Can You Seed” from the Cat in the Hat series of books. Then they make desktop greenhouses to watch them grow.

May is for the bees. We talk about how bees are very important to our environment. They get to look at part of a honeycomb I have, along with getting to taste different flavors of honey.

Q: Do you think teaching kids about ag is important? If so, why?

A: I definitely think teaching kids about ag is very important. Our county school students mostly know quite of bit about agriculture, but the inner-city kids have no clue their clothes and food starts on the farm.

Most think it comes from the grocery store, and, yes, it does, but where does it start at? Most couldn’t tell you. That is why teaching about agriculture is very important.

I love when they tell me chocolate milk comes from a brown cow, because their uncles said it did, and I get to say, “You go back to your uncle and say the ag lady said only white milk comes from cows.”

Q: Anything else about ag education that you’d like to mention?

A. In my eight years of volunteering with Ag in the Classroom, I myself have grown in my knowledge of agriculture. I did grow up on a farm and knew a lot about farming. But this has broadened my ability to teach the kids about more than what I already knew.

This year alone I have found out more about how pineapples grow. Did you know they have a pink stage before turning yellow? The kids thought that was awesome.

Q: If someone is interested in volunteering, what’s the first step?

A: Here is information to help get them started. Contact Agriculture in the Classroom at: 800-327-6287; inaitc@infb.org; P.O. Box 1290 Indianapolis, IN 46206. You may also go to www.infarmbureau.org/INFBAgEd.