AITC News

Agriculture in the Classroom Canada (AITC-C), along with its ten provincial member organizations, is excited to announce its 10^th annual Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month (CALM).

Each year, CALM encourages thousands of Canadian students from K to 12 to celebrate Canada’s agriculture and food story. CALM is a hands-on program designed to be integrated into classrooms in the month of March. Educating students about the significant affect the agriculture and food sector has on our daily lives as Canadians is what makes CALM so impactful.

“This year marks an important milestone for the invaluable work done by AITC,” said the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. “I wholeheartedly support their mission to engage our youth in the great story our farmers have to tell about how our food is made. Hopefully, more Canadians will see the exciting and fulfilling career opportunities in the agriculture sector. Agriculture in the Classroom is helping to close the gap between urban and rural, which is more important than ever, and our Government will continue to support them in this vital work.”

Read the full media release here.

Agriculture in the Classroom Canada (AITC-C) is proud to announce the foundational funding support and partnership with Canada East Equipment Dealers’ Association (CEEDA). Together, we will work to deliver educational resources that are inclusive of the contribution equipment and technical services plays in the agricultural sector.

Through our thinkAG career initiative, our combined messaging will reach youth audiences nationally and build awareness of agriculture career opportunities beyond the farm with real-life stories from professionals in the equipment industry. With an expected abundance of open positions in the coming years within this sector, this partnership will help fill bring up curiosity with individuals who are eager to learn from experienced professionals in the equipment industry.

Read the full media release here

Agriculture in the Classroom Canada (AITC-C), along with its ten provincial member organizations, has established a Board Advisory Committee (BAC) to offer insight and expertise as AITC-C continues to strive towards its strategic goals. 

The seven appointees were chosen by the AITC Board Nominations Committee and will serve a two-year term. The following individuals have been appointed to the BAC: Agassou Jones (NS), Becky Parker (BC), Kelly Green (MB), Lindsey Verhaeghe (AB), Nadine Sisk (ON), Teresa Vallotton (MB) and Trish Jordan (MB). As a volunteer group, the BAC will meet at least twice a year.

Read the full media release here.

AITC-C is proud to come together with agriculture partners to introduce youth to careers across the food sector. Together, AITC-C, EMILI, and Actua will be helping Western Canadian students from K to 12 learn about opportunities in the plant-protein, agrifood and digital agriculture sectors.

Through an co-investment project with Protein Industries Canada, Enterprise Machine Intelligence & Learning Initiative (EMILI), national STEM outreach charity Actua and Agriculture in the Classroom Canada (AITC-C) will help address the agriculture industry’s growing need for a skilled workforce. The program will engage youth in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba, with a particular focus on Indigenous and other under-represented groups. It will be based on Actua’s existing STEM and digital skills programming, which incorporates Indigenous perspectives and land-based learning, and expand upon agriculture curriculum developed by the partners.

Read the full media release here.

As a Canadian charity, Agriculture in the Classroom Canada is excited to participate in this years’ Giving Tuesday movement – also called the global day of giving – on December 1, 2020.

This worldwide movement day is named for its timing after Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and encourages charities and individuals to join together, and donate to their favourite causes.

Leading up to the event during the month of November, AITC-C has been highlighting our foundational partnerships and thanking them for their generous support on our social media accounts. We are so excited to be able to celebrate these partnerships and inspire people to see the value in making meaningful connections to farming and food.

If you are interested in joining us this #GivingTuesday, please visit our donation page here.

G3, in partnership with Agriculture in the Classroom Canada (AITC-C), is excited to announce the first recipients of the G3 Grow Beyond Scholarship.

Six students are each being awarded a $4000 scholarship, with a further $1000 awarded to each of their high schools.

G3 and AITC-C offered the scholarship for the first time in 2020 to students embarking on a post secondary education. As part of their applications, students were asked to submit a video essay describing how they would bring innovation to agriculture.

Read the full media release here.

Agriculture in the Classroom Canada (AITC-C) has announced its four newly elected Board Executive Officers at its 6^th Annual General Meeting held virtually this week. AITC-C represents ten provincial member organizations dedicated to delivering agriculture education to students and teachers. These organizations also offer a representative who sits on AITC-C’s Board of Directors.

At the Annual General Meeting AITC-C Executive Director, Johanne Ross, released AITC-C's 2019/2020 Impact Report that boasted reaching a phenomenal 2,102,844 students from coast-to-coast.

Read the full media release here.

AITC-C welcomes École-O-Champ as the newest provincial member with President Mathieu Rouleau joining AITC-C as Director.

AITC-C represents ten committed provincial member organizations that deliver agriculture education to classrooms in their home provinces.  The addition of École-O-Champ, a Québec-based nonprofit organization committed to the education and promotion of agricultural, food, and environmental sciences in schools, farms, and municipalities across Québec, cements AITC-C's strong presence from coast-to-coast in all ten provinces.

Read the full media release here.

AITC-C, along with nine provincial member organizations, is excited to launch its 9th annual Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month (CALM).

CALM is an engaging experiential opportunity that encourages students from K to 12 in all 10 provinces to learn about and celebrate Canada’s incredible agriculture and food story. By connecting classrooms with farmers and those with a deep connection to agriculture, students and teachers learn firsthand about this sector through the incredible story shared by the volunteer visiting with them.

Building on the success from 2019, this year will be AITC-C’s busiest yet! AITC-C organizations are on track to reach approximately 70,000 students in more than 2000 classrooms from coast to coast.

Read the full media release here.

Find out more here.

G3, in partnership with Agriculture in the Classroom Canada, is proud to present an exciting new scholarship opportunity. The G3 Grow Beyond Scholarship will be presented for the first time in 2020, to six high school students who are embarking on a post-secondary education and have innovative ideas for agriculture in Canada.

Read the media release here.

Check out the scholarship page here.