programs
2024 Education Grants Funded
Agriculture Awareness $1,000
Burchard A. Dunn Elementary School Pre-K - Martha Gill, New Gloucester
Our monthly focus on a colorful assortment of Maine foods will teach our Pre-K students about the amazing variety of Maine agricultural products. Through field trips and in-school experiences, students will learn how products are grown and made and the impact agriculture has on our state and community.
Carleton Project - Lilly Haggerty, Houlton
The Agriculture Awareness Program educates students on sustainable farming practices through hands-on gardening, farm visits, and expert workshops, promoting environmental stewardship and community involvement. This initiative fosters practical skills, agricultural knowledge, and career interest in sustainable agriculture.
Main Street Middle School - Sydney Beecher, Madison
The Book Barn is a barn-shaped bookcase with more than 50 agriculture related books and a handful of teacher resources! The goal is to provide more exposure to agriculture and bring our learning community together.
Capital Area Technical Center - Heidi Parent, Augusta
Students will engage in hands-on agricultural learning by managing a mushroom growing system, from cultivation to harvest. They'll gain insights into mushroom biology, then apply culinary skills to create dishes where mushrooms are the central ingredient, deepening their understanding of both farming and cooking.
Bath Tech (RSU 1) - E.B. Baldwin, Bath
Hoping to encourage students to grow, eat and understand mushrooms. Bath Tech Culinary will work with a Morse Food Science Teacher, in starting and growing mushrooms. Then learn about different types of fungi and how to use it in different Cooking methods and taste tests.
Helen Thompson School - Sarah Lucas, West Gardiner
The second grade team at Helen Thompson School would like to install a pollinators garden to help teach about the importance of insects in the pollination process. Without pollinators, specifically bees, plant/food production would plummet. I would like to help our students understand the connectedness of this process.
Somerset Elementary School - Maggie Blumenthal, Hartland
Funding will allow students to continue to build community connections with local agricultural enterprises. Five times throughout the year, students will visit local farmers, participate in farming processes, sample farm products, and gain a better understanding of how each farm is important in our community.
Hall-Dale Elementary - Stephanie Barker, Hallowell
The first graders at Hall-Dale will embark on a blueberry learning adventure to be shared with all students in grades pre-k through second grade. They will learn about Maine blueberries; use blueberries in cooking projects to share with each grade; plant blueberries; and distribute blueberry fiction and nonfiction books.
Agriculture Awareness $2,000
Saco Schools - Tara Spinney, Saco
At Saco Pre-K, we believe that children are active agents in their learning, especially when it is relevant, hands-on, and developmentally appropriate. We are excited about this opportunity to participate in the Agriculture Awareness grant program, which will further their understanding of how important farming is to our lives.
Maine 4-H (Pine Tree State 4-H Foundation) - Megan Cook, Orono
The 4-H Ag Explorer Program works with youth to help them better understand their connection to the food system and the role they play in it. The program uses a combination of hands-on activities and educational field trips to help youth explore their local food system and agricultural resources.
Central Lincoln County YMCA/FARMS at the Y - Leslie Wicks, Damariscotta
FARMS at the Y (Focus on Agriculture in Rural Maine Schools) is dedicated to educating about good nutrition and the role of local farms in fostering healthy, sustainable communities. Our hands-on experiences in cooking and gardening aim to cultivate expertise and a passion for healthier living among children.
Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association - Timothy Boston, Unity
Each year, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) invites school groups to attend for free the Common Ground Country Fair. MOFGA is proud to provide mileage reimbursement so that students from across the state can participate in this unique educational opportunity.
Fryeburg Academy - Jennifer Solter-Jones, Fryeburg
The New England Forestry and Sugaring unit engages Fryeburg Academy students in project based learning around the history, practices, and economics of forest management, with a specific focus on tree selection for tapping, sap collection, purification, evaporation, syrup finishing and the science behind these processes.
Sebasticook Elementary School - Maggie Blumenthal, Newport
Funding will allow students to continue to build community connections with local agricultural businesses. Five times throughout the year, students will visit local farmers, participate in farming processes, sample farm products, and gain a better understanding of the history and of how each is important in our community.
School Garden and Greenhouse
Westbrook Middle School - Austin Mehlhorn, Westbrook
With this grant we hope to expand our raised bed garden area to include interplanting with our orchard. We want this interplanted area to be no till and work to build soil health in the orchard and incorporate additional growing areas through cover cropping and silage tarps.
Surry Elementary School - Courtney Weaver, Surry
Surry Elementary School Garden Club meets in the fall, winter, and spring. We learn about gardening, Maine agriculture, and composting. The club has a greenhouse and three raised beds, and we are seeking to add another raised bed this spring. The club has served 39 students this school year.
MSAD59 - KVMPA - Julie Wallace, Madison
Our grant project focuses on tagging tilapia in aquaponics systems with PIT tags to monitor their health over time. By tracking these fish across our four systems, we aim to advance agricultural practices and promote sustainability, optimizing system management and enhancing our understanding of aquaponics for a more resilient future.
Mount Desert Island High School - Jennifer Crandall, Mt Desert
The MDIHS Farm to Table class will be redoing the gardens to include easy-to-access raised beds to replace a garden area that was disturbed by construction.
St. Mary's Nutrition Center - Lily Krietzberg, Lewiston
Geiger Elementary wishes to turn its newly established orchard into a thriving polyculture by planting fruit tree guilds that will reintroduce native species, improve soil, and attract pollinators. This will support the fruit trees by reducing the need for watering and weeding while making nutrients more available to the roots.
BCOPE - Lindsey Schortz, Belfast
We continue to ask ourselves how we make work in the greenhouse and garden relevant to student learning now and for their futures? This project will provide students with a workable space in which to engage in authentic scientific research, building their knowledge on topics that they are passionate about.
Good Will Home Association dba Good Will-Hinckley - Anthony Averette, Hinckley
"Get Growing! at the Glenn Stratton Learning Center will actively involve students and educators in all stages of agriculture—from planting and growing to harvesting and preserving. The produce will be used in our on-campus food cupboard, café, and various training programs, fostering both educational and practical life skills."
RSU 71 Elementary Garden Program - Nicole Caruso, Belfast
Our Elementary Garden Program provides garden-based learning to K-5 students across all five of the district's elementary schools. Our proposed project would allow us to improve our maintenance capabilities, assist with making much needed repairs to existing hoop houses, and improve accessibility for students who use wheelchairs.
Orono Middle School - Jessica Archer, Orono
Students collaborate to learn about planting, maintaining, and harvesting a garden. Composts will minimize food waste. Students will work with master gardeners from (Rogers Farm) to establish a pollinator garden. They will cook with and learn the health benefits of fresh produce. Book collections will support their learning about the garden.
Alfond Youth & Community Center - Zoë Mason, Waterville
The Alfond Youth & Community Center is expanding experiential student learning in their gardens and greenhouse by utilizing a new, broader curriculum and ensuring that even more youth in the Greater Waterville area have the opportunity to learn about agriculture and nutrition in a hands-on manner.
Agriculture Leadership
Maine FFA Association - Emily Doughty, Augusta
The Maine FFA is a student-led organization focused on premier leadership, personal growth, and career success. This project will support the state officers on their leadership continuum as they meet with delegates from across the nation for the State Officer Summit in Washington, DC.
Presque Isle Tech Center - Vicki McCurry, Presque Isle
Students from the Presque Isle chapter of FFA will travel to The Big E in September, 2024 to compete in career and leadership development events and to observe agricultural demonstrations and exhibits. They will gain knowledge and experience in agriculture, enabling them to assume leadership roles in their home communities.
Ashland District School - Janet Perry, Ashland
Ashland FFA hopes to continue learning about agriculture outside the traditional classroom setting with a five-day trip to Eastern States Exposition, W. Springfield, Massachusetts and the surrounding areas in September 2024; we also plan to attend the 2025 State FFA Convention.
Maine FFA Association - Emily Doughty, Augusta
Maine FFA officers are planning to serve as representatives at the 2024 National FFA Convention. State Officers will join over 70,000 members in Indianapolis, Indiana this fall! While in Indianapolis, state officers be engaged in workshops, convene in delegate and committee sessions, volunteer with service projects, and represent Maine agriculture.
Statewide Agriculture Organization
Maine School Garden Network - Susan Sager, Augusta
The School Garden of the Month Calendar will promote and support Maine School Gardens and agricultural education by educating the public about the importance of teaching agriculture and healthy eating to youth. It will also be a fundraiser for MSGN AND school gardens to raise funds for their gardening projects.
Healthy Communities of the Capital Area - Renee Page, Gardiner
Maine Farm & Sea to School Institute is a year-long professional program convening three school district teams to build farm and sea to school programs through action planning and with Coach support to bring agriculture education into the Classroom, increase local food in the Cafeteria, and build Community support.
Maine FFA - Emily Doughty, Augusta
FFA is a student lead organization with a focus on premier leadership, personal growth, and career success. Maine has 315 members from 10 chapters. This year’s officer team aspires to increase membership in existing chapters and expand to new chapters. Funding would allow us to promote FFA in new ways.