By Shelby Shank
Field Editor
Homeschool educators across Texas learned about agriculture at a recent workshop with the help of Texas Farm Bureau’s (TFB) Ag in the Classroom programs.
The two-day Summer Ag Academy held in Waco taught educators how to incorporate agriculture into their curriculum through science and hands-on activities.
“Homeschool educators across Texas participated in our Summer Ag Academy, where they learned from industry experts and engaged in hands-on activities,” said Carson Read, Educational Outreach coordinator. “They explored various agricultural topics and built connections with fellow educators, gaining new ideas for integrating agriculture into their homeschool curriculum.”
The program provided free TFB resources to give educators structured lessons and hands-on activities that connect students to their food, fiber and fuel.
“Seeing the National Ranching Heritage Center Hank the Cowdog resources in person gave me renewed energy to use them with my kids,” Nichole Jones, a homeschool educator from Athens, said. “I’ve already told my homeschool teaching friends about their ranch days and plan to make it part of our school year.”
Jones noted the workshop provided practical tools she could use immediately.
“The curriculum matrix has all the things we could ever want about any topic. You can just type in ‘pecans’ and find hands-on lessons for all ages, which is perfect for co-ops or homeschool settings with multiple kids,” Jones said. “It’s amazing to have a free, fact-based resource we can trust. As a homeschool mom, I don’t have time to learn everything all the time, so knowing the information is accurate is invaluable.”
Participants also visited Walker Honey Farm and learned about honey production.
“Visiting the honey farm was eye-opening. I’d never seen the process up close, and the connection to math and science stood out immediately,” said Kendra Entrop, a former public school educator from Canton who now homeschools her grandchildren. “On the wall was a formula, something you might see in Algebra II, and I thought, ‘If you can show a student that this is the math a beekeeper uses, it finally clicks.’ It was a beautiful example of making academics relevant to real life.”
The workshop inspired educators to think outside the box to further expand the education of their kids and connect agriculture to their lessons.
“I had no idea about the wealth of Farm Bureau resources available to us until I did some Googling,” Entrop said. “Stumbling on a small piece of curriculum opened the door to a treasure trove of lessons, activities and ideas. They’ve given us so many launching points to explore new topics, I’m excited to take them back and implement them.”
The event took place Aug. 13-14 at the TFB Conference and Training Center.
For over 30 years, TFB has hosted professional development events each summer to help Texas educators make connections with agriculture, offering them engaging techniques to incorporate the subject into their curriculum.
Additional information about educational opportunities for teachers and Ag in the Classroom activities is available at texasfarmbureau.org/aitc.
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