MAITC Foundation Outstanding Teacher Award

One MAITC Outstanding Teacher Award will be given to an educator currently engaged in classroom instruction at the K-12 grade levels. This award will recognize the teacher for his/her creative efforts to integrate agriculture into his/her classroom and curricula to increase agricultural literacy. An agriculturally literate person is defined as "one who understands and can communicate the source and value of agriculture as it affects our quality of life."

The winning Minnesota teacher will receive $500 and have up to $1,500 of his/her related expenses paid to attend the National Agriculture in the Classroom (NAITC) Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah June 24-27, 2024.

• If the winning teacher chooses not to attend the NAITC Conference, he/she will receive the $500 award from MAITC but he/she will not receive the $1,500 designated for travel expenses. The runner-up Outstanding Teacher Award Winner will be offered the designated travel funds of up to $1,500 to attend the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference.
• If the winning teacher is selected as a National Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Award Winner and the NAITC Organization pays for his/her expense to attend the NAITC Conference, the runner-up Outstanding Teacher Award Winner from Minnesota will have the opportunity to have up to $1,500 of his/her travel expense paid to attend the NAITC Conference.

Eligibility

Minnesota licensed teachers that are currently engaged in integrating agricultural concepts into non-agricultural education classroom settings at the K-12 grade levels are eligible. This may be an individual teacher or a team of teachers. Please note: Only one award and cash prize totaling $2,000 will be made per team. High School and Middle School Agricultural Educators are not eligible for this award.

Applications must be completed and submitted by midnight on November 15, 2023.

2023 Outstanding Teacher Award

Haley Madson, St. Anne's School, LeSueur, MN

Haley Madson is a first-grade teacher at St. Anne’s School in Le Sueur, MN received the Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom 2023 Outstanding Teacher Award. Haley has led her students in a variety of agriculture-themed activities including hatching chicks, cultivating and germinating seeds, and engaging her students in making foods such as ice cream and homemade bread. These activities have enabled her to engage with students and teach in a practical way that reinforces science, social students, reading and listening. Haley’s curriculum and future plans include planning and developing a school garden that will be used to teach students about the plant life cycle and the challenges of producing fresh produce. She is developing a plan to collaborate with the agriculture teacher at Le Sueur-Henderson High School to enable engagement and service-learning opportunities for students of a range of grade levels.

Haley was recognized at the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference in Orlando Florida in June 2023.

Past Winners