BRAINERD — Food doesn’t just appear out of thin air. That’s something Carrie Allord wants to teach her third grade students at St. Francis Catholic School in Brainerd.
Allord has incorporated agriculture into many aspects of her classroom, including math, social studies and reading, but the focal point is a Silkie breed hen named Pearl.
“She stays in her pen and she likes to cluck when the kids will come by, cause we'll give her treats,” Allord said.
In May, Allord was named Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom's 2024 Outstand Teacher Award winner. She was also recognized as one of six Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Award winners by the National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization.
As small family farms have disappeared, agriculture has become more invisible in society, Allord said. She wants to improve agricultural literacy by helping students appreciate how food reaches the table and understand the importance, diversity and functions of agriculture in society.
Allord recently attended the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference in Salt Lake City, where she met many others who do similar work and got some new ideas.
“My favorite one is incorporating agriculture even more thoroughly all year, using different national holidays like National Pizza Day,” she said.
Allord encouraged community members to get involved in local classrooms.
“If you're on a farm, if you're interested about it, help the teachers by offering to go in," she said. " ... Even [if you] just find an agriculture book and read about it and help those teachers get agriculture in the classrooms.”
