Ag Foundation reaches all 105 Kansas counties with free classroom kit initiative

MANHATTAN, KANSAS, December 14, 2023 – Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom (KFAC) has reached its goal of sending out 2,023 free classroom kits to educators across Kansas in 2023.

What started as a staff goal quickly grew support from the KFAC board of directors, donors, volunteers, and educators. After the successful release of two-grade group kits in 2022, the demand for the kits grew, and the need for the kits and resources was evident. In 2023, the program expanded to include four-grade group kits, spanning kindergarten through 12th grade.

KFAC has developed four grade group specific kits covering Kindergarten-2nd grade, 3rd-5th grades, 6th- 8th grades, and 9th- 12th grades. Each classroom kit includes a lesson plan, supporting resources, and supplies to conduct an ag-based activity with a class of 25 students. Each lesson plan is aligned with Kansas Academic Standards and linked to National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes to ensure age-appropriate agricultural information is addressed.

The lesson-plan kit eases the lesson-planning burden that teachers face by providing quality standards-based lessons that are easy to incorporate into the curriculum, encouraging more teachers to incorporate agriculture into their classrooms, and connecting them to other available resources. KFAC’s kits use agriculture as the vehicle to teach a core subject, making it easier for teachers to incorporate into their classrooms.

“KFAC’s lesson planning kits have been a great initiative to engage teachers in incorporating agriculture in their classrooms,” says Nancy Zenger-Beneda, KFAC Executive Director. “The kits are an easy way to incorporate agriculture into their curriculum and provide everything they need to support their teaching plan.”

On social media in 2023, KFAC’s free classroom kit promotions reached more than 300,000 people. These kits reached 2,023 teachers and 50,575 students at more than 810 schools in Kansas. The kits reached all 105 Kansas counties, and every school district in the state received at least one kit. 85% of all educators receiving a kit were not previously connected to KFAC.

The best part of reaching this goal is hearing positive feedback from educators on how these kits impacted their students. This gave some students a reason to be engaged and a different way to learn outcomes that already had to be included in the classroom.

“The hands-on and progressive discovery makes kids want to come to school and gives them something to look forward to. Even on a bad day, they can go to the hall, look at their plants growing, draw the changes in their plant, and reset themselves emotionally. It's visceral to know that it's something they've grown and produced beyond just math and writing; it's life,” says Isabella Wernholm, Wakefield Elementary Teacher.

KFAC would not have been able to provide this many classroom kits to educators for free without the help of our generous donors across the state. Major donors to these kits include the Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Soybean Commission, Kansas Beef, KS State Bank, and the Pete Henry Foundation.

KFAC plans to continue the free classroom kit initiative into 2024 and continues to seek donors to support this initiative. To learn more about KFAC’s classroom kits, visit https://ksagclassroom.org/resource/kits/.

About Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom

Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom is a statewide 501(c)3 nonprofit educational organization providing resources, training, and support for schools, educators, and volunteers to spark meaningful connections between classrooms and Kansas agriculture. For more information, visit www.ksagclassroom.org, email info@ksagclassroom.org, or phone (785) 320-4350.