March 12, 2007
Bronson Reads To Elementary School Students To Kick Off 2007 Florida Agriculture Literacy Day
In an effort to increase agricultural literacy statewide, Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson today hosted a press conference at a Tallahassee elementary school to kick off the fourth Florida Agriculture Literacy Day.
Bronson read this year’s Agriculture Literacy Day children’s book “Oh Say Can You Seed?” to two kindergarten classes at Roberts Elementary School. He joined more than 1,400 farmers, ranchers, members of local FFA chapters, agriculture industry volunteers and educators who are reading in more than 2,900 elementary classrooms around the state in honor of Florida Agriculture Literacy Day, which is scheduled for March 15. National Agriculture Week is March 18-24, 2007.
Florida Agriculture Literacy Day is organized by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and Florida Agriculture in the Classroom, Inc., a non-profit organization based in Gainesville and charged with educating Florida students and teachers about the importance of agriculture.
“Children today are several generations removed from the farm, so it’s important we use events like Florida Agriculture Literacy Day to teach them their food, fiber and landscape materials come from farms and not from stores,” said Bronson, a former agriculture teacher.
“Florida Agriculture Literacy Day has become a popular event for members of the Florida agriculture industry, and is a great way to teach students about the importance of the agriculture industry,” said Cara Martin, chairman of Florida Ag in the Classroom and assistant director of government and community affairs for Florida Farm Bureau.
The numbers of industry volunteers and classrooms participating in Florida Agriculture Literacy Day this year by region are:
| Panhandle | 277 volunteers in 463 classrooms |
| Northeast Florida | 286 volunteers in 367 classrooms |
| North Central Florida | 227 volunteers in 365 classrooms |
| Central Florida | 188 volunteers in 753 classrooms |
| Tampa Bay Area | 294 volunteers in 557 classrooms |
| South Florida | 106 volunteers in 363 classrooms |
| Southwest Florida | 37 volunteers in 37 classrooms |
Florida Ag in the Classroom’s Educator Advisory Panel selected “Oh Say Can You Seed?” by Bonnie Worth, a book that’s part of the “Cat in the Hat” series and is about flowering plants.
Florida Ag in the Classroom provides the books to industry volunteers free of charge, and asks that they donate the books to school libraries after their readings. In addition to the books, the organization provides volunteers with a lesson designed for the book for teachers, and a classroom set of bookmarks for students that list Florida farmers’ contributions to the state economically and environmentally.
Florida Ag in the Classroom is able to offer the books and materials free of charge to industry volunteers because of the funding it receives from sales of the agriculture specialty license plate also known as the “Ag Tag.”
In addition to Florida Agriculture Literacy Day, Florida Ag in the Classroom provides curricula, materials, workshops, grant money and other programs to teachers and agriculture industry volunteers who reach out to Florida students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The organization’s mission is to expand youth awareness and understanding of Florida agriculture and natural resources by integrating agricultural concepts into core educational disciplines.
For more information:
Lisa Gaskalla
(352) 846-1391
LBGaskalla@ifas.ufl.edu
