Every year, Oregon Farm Bureau and Oregon State University host the Summer Agriculture Institute. This week-long professional development program gives K-12 educators a hands-on look into the challenging and diverse field of agriculture. It also shows teachers how they can use agriculture as a context for teaching core academic subjects—science, math, social studies, and English.

Benton SWCD was pleased to offer a scholarship for this program to a Benton County teacher, Heather Gettys. Heather teaches 4th grade at Muddy Creek Charter School. She shares about her experience and how it will benefit her students below:

Science, sustainability, and culture. These are what I have learned make agriculture successful.

In the short time I had with the Summer Agriculture Institute, I saw how much hard work and planning goes into every piece of agriculture. There is a deep connection between people, the environment, and our food systems. I witnessed how our environment creates our food but can't have success without people tending to the land and animals contributing to the essential microorganisms that make our soil thrive. Without thriving soil, we have nothing. 

The hands-on experience I had with my host family gave me a first person's perspective on a day in the life of a dairy farmer. I helped move cattle, saw the steps it took to artificially inseminate cows, and saw all the hard work that goes into making sure consumers get their products! 

Everything I have learned in this experience has given me a sense of responsibility- to the environment, future generations (my students,) and to the individuals who often go unnoticed in the process of feeding our world. 

So, now when I think about Agriculture, I think about purpose. My purpose as an educator is to provide my students the resources they need to understand agriculture. Giving them the power of learning by doing- because that's where the real change begins.