Grants & Awards
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 Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 23-26, 2025.
- 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 October 1, 2024.
2024 Outstanding Teacher Award Winner
Carrie Allord, St. Francis School, Brainerd, MN
Carrie Allord, a third-grade teacher at St. Francis Catholic School in Brainerd, was selected as the MAITC 2024 Outstanding Teacher Award winner.
Ms. Allord shares her excitement for agriculture with her third graders every day. "What I love about agriculture is that I can incorporate it into any aspect of the day." Allord uses a classroom chicken named Pearl as well as a chick hatching program to help students investigate lifecycles and connect to important science concepts. She uses a plethora of agriculture-themed books to support reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills, and is always looking for opportunities to connect plants, animals, and food to the learning activities happening in her classroom.
Allord was also recognized as one of six Excellence in Teaching About Agriculture Award Winners by the National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization (NAITCO) at the 2024 NAITCO in Salt Lake City, Utah.