In this issue of our BCAITC Teacher Champion series, we profile BC Education Assistant Wendy Person. Discover her passion for educating students about BC agriculture, food, and the environment.

Q: What school do you teach at? A: Martha Currie Elementary in Surrey.

Q: What grade(s) do you teach? A: Grades 5-6 as an Education Assistant.

Q: How and when did you first learn about BCAITC? A: I learned about BCAITC when I worked in a high school in the Learning Support Team (LST) department.  We had fruit and vegetables from the BC School Fruit and Vegetable Nutritional Program delivered to the cafeteria for the students to enjoy the product and talk about how it was grown. The students also learned about how British Columbia provides a large variety of fruits and vegetables grown in greenhouses or in the Okanagan.

Q: How long have you been teaching students about BC agriculture and food? A: 5 years in high school and 10 years in elementary school.

Q: What are the most important things that you want your students to learn about BC agriculture and food? A: I want all students to know how lucky we are to live in British Columbia because we grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables inside greenhouses or outside at farms to enjoy all year long. Also, our dairy farms provide us with milk and milk products.

Q: BCAITC has over 500 free downloadable resources including lesson plans, activities, videos, recipes, and more! What is your favourite BCAITC resource and why? A: In elementary school, I found the corn maze and the rock painting in the Spring/Summer Ag-Activity Pack for (grades 2-7) a huge interest for the students to do. Also in high school, many recipes that were found on the BCAITC website were made in the home economics class that had the recent product in them that we received from our delivery.

Q: What is your favourite BCAITC program and why? A: Spuds in Tubs. When we grow the spuds we divide the students into 5 groups and then divide the spuds so each group has the same amount. Students will name their spud container, water them, and watch how they grow. Watching the spuds grow brings so much excitement to the students because they compare the size of their plants. The real excitement happens when we harvest the potatoes tub by tub and see which group grew the most nuggets. Then students divide the harvest evenly and take the potatoes home to share with their families.

Q: What is an agriculture or food-based project you have recently implemented in your classroom? A: In the greenhouse, we have grown lettuce, radishes, and green onions for a colourful salad.

Q: Do you have any advice for other educators on how to integrate agriculture and food education into their curriculum? A: We talk about the amount of fruit and vegetables a student in elementary school needs to eat to follow the Canada Food Guide daily. This way they see just how much they need to eat to stay healthy.

About the Teacher Champion Series: This monthly BCAITC series features BC teachers and school staff who are passionate about providing agriculture and food education to K-12 students. For more information, contact our Communications Coordinator, meghan@aitc.ca.