Foundation for Agriculture Empowers Teachers to Develop Ag-Centric Digital Skills Curriculum with Fellowship Program

The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture has partnered with Grow with Google to train 2,000 teachers on digital skills, to reach 200,000 students in rural communities by the end of the 2023 school year. As part of that effort, the Foundation is bolstering agricultural education curriculum through the Farm Bureau Foundation Fellows Program, a unique fellowship that will allow educators in rural or agricultural regions to teach students where their food comes from.

Over the course of the 8-month program, fellows will develop place-based curriculum that incorporates agriculture, technology and key digital skills into a Applied Digital Skills lessons. The lessons will be available, for free, to all educators interested in teaching students about food, fuel and fiber while giving students a strong foundation in digital skills.

Fellows will receive a stipend, Chromebooks for their classrooms and 1:1 instruction from experts at Google.

“Digital skills are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for jobs in today’s economy, yet students in rural areas in particular often don’t have access to the resources that will set them up for success, such as broadband access and program instruction,” said Daniel Meloy, executive director of the Foundation. “We hope this program empowers teachers to introduce their students to the exciting world of agriculture, while also teaching them an array of technical skills.”

To kick off the program, the Foundation and Grow with Google hosted the Rural Educators Digital Skills Summit in July to provide hands-on training on how to teach the practical digital skills students need to succeed academically and prepare for modern jobs.

Teachers interested in the fellowship may apply through Sept. 8. The first step is to watch the Summit, which is currently available on-demand.

To learn more and apply, visit the Foundation webpage.