Ag-in-the-Classroom

Established in 1985, New York Agriculture in the Classroom (NYAITC) is a partnership of Cornell University, the NYS Department of Ag & Markets, the NYS Education Department, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and the New York Farm Bureau. Its mission is to foster awareness, understanding, and appreciation of how we produce food and fiber, what we eat, and how we live, by helping educators, students, and their communities learn about and engage with agriculture and food systems.

NY Ag Literacy Week: March 18-22, 2024

New York Ag-in-the-Classroom and the Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H program invite you to be a reader for the annual Agriculture Literacy Week to be held March 18 to 22, 2024. Last year, 2,300 books were donated to school or classroom libraries and books were read by volunteers to over 80,000 elementary school youth throughout New York State.

The selected book for 2024 is "I LOVE Strawberries", written by Shannon Anderson with art by Jaclyn Sinquett. Jolie LOVES strawberries - and she’s on an unstoppable mission to grow her own food from seedling to table in this colorful introduction to the joy of growing the popular perennial. Creating a garden calendar and notebook, how strawberries grow, what pests and beneficial insects to look out for in a garden, and how a good gardener takes care of strawberry plants are all explained through Jolie's comical scrapbook-style journal entries.

Young readers will learn how she convinces the "old people" (aka her parents) to let her grow her own strawberries. Growing strawberries is a lot of work and responsibility, but Jolie is ready with the help of her faithful rabbit Munchy! Together they find out just how delicious, rewarding, and sometimes complicated it can be to grow your own food.

Contributing nearly $2.4 billion to the state gross domestic product and covering approximately 7.3 million acres, agriculture is vital to New York State. The New York Agriculture in the Classroom Program is excited to feature a book that displays the unique markets and diversity that encompasses many aspects of New York's agriculture while also focusing on food production and how consumers contribute to agriculture.

Donate

Donations are necessary to purchase the books and classroom supplies, which are then donated to school libraries. If you decide to donate, no matter the amount, your name will be featured on the bookplate inside the book that is donated. Those who are interested in donating should email or call the contact for this page.

Volunteer

Volunteers will visit local elementary schools during Ag Literacy Week to read and talk to children about New York's agriculture industry. At the conclusion of the day's activities, the book will be donated to the school library for students and teachers to use throughout the school year. Elementary School teachers and volunteers who are interested in participating in NY Ag Literacy Week should email or call the contact for this page. Visit the New York State Ag in the Classroom website to learn more about statewide activities and to learn about agriculture-themed books that have been featured in other years.