Leader Continued from Page 14
thousands of supporters and social media followers, Culbertson said, is working to expand its reach. One promising new initiative is a web-based application called “Knowin’ What’s Growin’.” Funded by a $500,000 Specialty Crops Block Grant, the app will help travelers through California identify and learn more about crops growing in the state’s 58 counties. A fourth-generation farmer, Culbertson grew up on her family’s pear farm. As a child, she sold lemonade at the family’s packing plant and later managed fruit processing and distribution. “As us kids got older, we just took on more responsibility,” she said. Culbertson is a past president of the National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization, past chair of the California State Fair Agricultural Advisory Council, chair of the State Fair’s California Agricultural Heritage Club and is in- volved in many community organizations. Culbertson is a recipient of the California State Fair Agricultural Progress Award. Culbertson said she is looking forward to spending more time with family and friends and spending time in the garden and volunteering. She and her husband, Jim, grow Bartlett pears and winegrapes in Courtland. They have two adult children and two grandsons. Learn more about Ag in the Classroom at www.learnaboutag.org. (Christine Souza is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)
country kid, teachers find that kids relate to agriculture because it brings commonality among us, and all kids are interested in food,” Culbertson said. “I think teachers innately know that their students may not know much about their food and fiber, so if we can get them enthusiastic about school gardening, for example, that is a win.” Culbertson said she has watched peo- ple’s interest in agriculture grow during her career, adding, “Ag in the Classroom has been promoting, educating and cel- ebrating California-grown agriculture for decades.” She pointed to the 1995 initiative by the state Department of Education that launched “A Garden in Every School.” She said it brought hands-on learning about ag- riculture to thousands of schools statewide. Under Culbertson’s leadership, one of Ag in the Classroom’s longest-run- ning programs, the “Imagine this…” sto- ry-writing contest is now in its 30th year. It invites third- through eighth-grade students to write agricultural-inspired stories. Winning stories are illustrated by high school art students and published in a book. The contest grew out of a partnership with Sacramento-based KMAX-TV, which held a story-writing contest. At Culbertson’s request, the theme for two years was agri- culture. After the station dropped the con- test, Ag in the Classroom kept it going. This year’s winning authors were celebrated last month during California Agriculture Day at the state Capitol.
Judy Culbertson, executive director of the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom, speaks about the benefits of agriculture during an 2018 interview with Michael Marks of Good Day Sacramento.
Another popular resource, Culbertson said, is the “What’s Growin’ On?” stu- dent newspaper offered free to teachers for their classrooms. Viewed by 1 million readers annually, the paper began 22 years ago as a partnership with The Fresno Bee and is loaded with activities and informa- tion for students. “The theme of the newspaper this year is ‘Fields of Innovations’ and contains in- formation on all kinds of new technologies used in agriculture,” Culbertson said. An event each September that at- tracts about 200 teachers is the Ag in the Classroom annual conference, which of- fers workshops, field trips, exhibits and more. Julie Cates, who teaches sixth grade at Linwood Elementary School in Visalia,
described the event as innovative and “be- yond any other teacher conference.” At a recent conference, she said, “peo- ple were blown away” after hearing from a hospital chef who spoke about health and nutrition benefits of local produce that he sources from farms for the University of California, Davis, Medical Center. Citing her professionalism and dedica- tion, Cates credits Culbertson for engaging her to bring agriculture into her classroom. “It was such a great experience to meet Judy and work with her. She just is very clever and conscious of bringing the ag- riculture industry to the regular teacher,” Cates said. Ag in the Classroom, which has
April 3, 2024 Ag Alert 15
Powered by FlippingBook