CAMP HILL (Dauphin Co.)
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s
Young Fanners and Ranchers
(YF&R) Committee has present
ed its 1999 “Outstanding Ag in
the Classroom Teacher* Award
to Christie Gamber of
Hummelstown, a first grade
teacher at Lower Dauphin
School District in Dauphin
County.
Gamber was cited for her
superlative use of Ag in the
Classroom concepts and materi
als in helping her students at
East Hanover Elementary
School better understand agri
culture and its importance.
A graduate of last year’s Ag
in the Classroom workshop,
Gamber said her goal during the
past school year was to teach her
students that agriculture was
more than just “plows, sows, and
cows.” She used a wide range of
hands-on activities to help her
first-graders understand that,
“everything we use, consume
and need is somehow tied to
agriculture.”
The Ag in the Classroom pro
gram is a week-long accredited
workshop conducted by the
Agriculture Awareness
Foundation of Pennsylvania.
This year’s workshop, held July
18-23 at the main campus of The
Pennsylvania State University,
was -attended by more than 90
school teachers, mostly from ele
mentary schools, from around
the state. The teachers, through
field trips and classroom
instruction, learned about the
Outstanding Ag In Classroom Teacher Lauded
vast scope of agriculture and
agricultural activities in
Pennsylvania and how to incor
porate information about agri
culture in their classroom lesson
plans.
Trade Sturges, a farm wite,
mother and chairperson of
PFB’s Young Farmers &
Ranchers Committee (YF&R),
presented the award to Camber
during the Ag in the Classroom
Sponsor Recognition Banquet
held July 22 in State College.
“In order for agriculture to
remain a viable industry, it is
important for the public to
understand the crudal role that
it plays in our history, economy
and quality of life,” said Sturges
in announcing the award win
ner. “This education must begin
with today’s youth,” she said.
“That is why the YF&R
Committee recognizes elemen
tary school teachers, “who are
doing an outstanding job of edu
cating tomorrow’s dtizens about
this nation’s number one indus
try,” Sturges said.
In accepting the award,
Camber said she was over
whelmed at first by the amount
of Ag in the Classroom material
she received at the workshop
and wondered if she would ever
be able to use it all.
“The biggest problem was
thinking agriculture had to be a
separate subject,” she told 1999
workshop participants. “It didn’t
have to be. It works well with
everything.” Camber taught her
student about agriculture with
lessons on insects, erosion, soil
types, composting, farm ani
mals, crops and their by-prod
ucts, and planting from seeds.
“We did something everyday
relating to agriculture,” she said.
As the grand prize winner,
Camber received $2OO cash and
$350 worth of Ag in the
Classroom materials of her
choice. A teaching team of Lori
Gontis-Holloway and Sheila
Ulerich from St. Peter’s
Elementary School, Somerset,
received $lOO cash and $250
worth of classroom material as
the award runners-up. The prize
winners were selected by a
panel of judges based on the
variety of agricultural concepts
taught, the extent of integration
into other subject matter, use of
creative techniques and use of
classroom, school and communi
ty resources. This marks the
fourth year the YF&R
Committee has presented the
award to an Ag in the Classroom
workshop graduate.
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau is
a non-govemmental, voluntary
organization which represents
over 27,000 farm and rural fam
ilies. Its YF&R Committee spon-
Home Canning Meats
Have you thought of preserv
ing, soups, spaghetti sauce or
chicken? Low acid foods like
meats require a significantly
higher processing temperature
to destroy bacterial spores and
toxins that can thrive in home
canned products.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 4, 1999-BS
Christie Gamber, left, a first-grade teacher at East Hanover
Elementary School, Lower Dauphin School District, recently
received the Outstanding Ag in the Classroom Award from
the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers
Committee. Presenting the award is YF&R chairperson Tracie
Sturges, right.
sors programs and leadership young farmers between the ages
development opportunities for °* anc *
Penn State Cooperative
Extension is offering two work
shops featuring the basics on
home pressure canning meats
and products with meat as an
ingredient. Testing of dial
gauges will be available.
Classes are September 22,
from 10 a.m. - noon or 7 - 9 p.m.
at the Farm and Home Center in
Lancaster.
Cost is $3 to cover materials
and handouts. Pre-registration
is requested. Call Penn State
Cooperative Extension at 717-
394-6851 for information.