Every year Wisconsin Ag in the Classroom chooses a teacher from throughout the state that shows their passion for agriculture by implementing it into their everyday curriculum. This year’s recipient is fourth-grade teacher Lori Bongert of Rio Elementary in Columbia County. The agriculture award is fitting because Bongert was born and raised on her parent’s hog and cash crop farm in Poynette where she was very involved in 4-H and FFA. After high school, she went on to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education from UW-Platteville and her master’s from National Louis University.
Bongert has been teaching elementary school students for 12 years now! She said it’s important to bring agriculture into the classroom because she wants her students to understand where their food’s coming from, what it’s made into, how it gets to the store, and ultimately how it reaches their plates.
Bongert mentioned how a lot of them have relatives that own farms who them about ag, but they aren’t actually being raised on the land. One way she teaches her kids about agriculture is with a micro garden wagon where they learn about growing food. The kids plant their own seeds, take care of them for six weeks while they grow, and then harvest them in the end. She also gets her students involved in Wisconsin Farm Burea’s essay contest and has farmers come in to speak. Bongert doesn’t stop there though, she even brings the kids to local farms, creameries, and even the farmers market.
She had some advice for other teachers that are eager to share the ag industry in Wisconsin with their students. “I’d really start with learning about the ag essay contest and that’s where it really helps me branch off into different categories. It’s really easier than you’d think. You can really tie it into literacy, you can tie it into math…and also it’s wonderful for the career aspect, that there are so many different careers in agriculture,” Bongert said.
Congratulations to Lori Bongert for winning Wisconsin Ag in the Classroom’s Outstanding Teacher Award! The state also nominated her as their pick for the National Excellence in Teaching Agriculture Award. You can check out the full interview on the podcast page.
