Progress 06/01/24 to 05/31/25

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences are full-time teachers and administrators in North Carolina from K-14 schools (including technical center, community college, and pre-college programs). The priority is to provide hands-on and experiential learning opportunities for limited resource communities and limited-resource school districts. We also include teachers and administrators who offer education to support youth with special needs. All disciplines are welcome to participate. Our goal is to increase the number of K-14 educational professionals trained in the agri-food system sciences via expert-guided interdisciplinary research to enhance faculty expertise and encourage widespread implementation of educational innovation at K-14 levels; immersive learning experiences (e.g., on-farm activities, experiential learning training, and field trips) and curriculum development and teaching training for K-14 education to improve student success outcomes continuous support, coaching, and mentorship for participants to integrate food and agricultural science concepts in their classes across disciplines to help students explore career opportunities in food and agriculture. The program is designed to offer 5-day immersive learning at the Small Farm Unit in Goldsboro, NC, as one of the six integrated farming units managed by the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The base of the training program is Dollar Enterprise© which was designed and implemented by Dr. Liang and it is a pioneering entrepreneurship educational program to be integrated into agri-food system concepts. This is a unique training program given three pillars of entrepreneurship - entrepreneurial mindset, entrepreneurial decisions, and entrepreneurial opportunities. Dollar Enterprise contents include business planning (production, market, finance, risk/uncertainty assessment), professional communication (oral presentations, written reporting, visual design, and peer interactions), and logistics of creativity (e.g., organic vs nonorganic operations, conservation practices, sustainable vs limited-term strategies). Participants will engage in (1) daily farming activities to incorporate conservation and environmental farming practices, (2) field trips to visit various farms engaged in sustainable farming operations, and (3) curriculum design and peer support to create a draft of new materials to bring back to their own schools. Participants will be recruited across NC school districts and multiple information sessions have been offered in Zoom. Each participant needs to submit an application package include The school's need to promote and advance food and agricultural sciences Applicant's personal and professional development goals in advancing food and agricultural sciences via different courses and settings Applicant's willingness to commit time and effort to 5-day training in Goldsboro Teaching philosophy and experience Recommendations from supervisors, peers, and students Training approaches include Integrated research and hands-on activities to stimulate knowledge transfer and application - work at the farm Facilitated team works to follow the real-world work environment - shared values and responsibilities Peer-to-peer support to mirror networking in career development Monthly coaching and mentoring opportunities to support participants - will be scheduled in Zoom Daily routine example: June 22, 2025 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Welcome program participants, Networking Activities, and self- assessment June 23, 2025 6:45 a.m. Travel to Cherry Research Farm 7:00-9:00 a.m. Team Tasks (breaks in between) 9:00-10:00 a.m. On Farm Presentation - Dr. Trequan McGee, specialty crops 10:00-10:30 a.m. Travel Back To Hotel/Break 10:30 a.m.-Noon Teacher Mentor Presentation - Ms. Brittany Jenkins Noon-1:30 p.m. Lunch 1:30-3:30 p.m. Presentation - Dr. Balakrishna Gokaraju 3:30-5:30 p.m. TBD - Training In Hotel 5:30 p.m. Adjourn June 24, 2025 6:45 a.m. Travel to Cherry Research Farm 7:00-9:00 a.m. Team Tasks (breaks in between) 9:00-10:00 a.m. On Farm Presentation - Dr. Hannah Talton, Integrated Pest Management 10:00-10:30 a.m. Travel Back To Hotel/Break 10:30 a.m.-Noon Experiential learning programs and demo - Training In Hotel Noon-1:30 p.m. Lunch 1:30-3:30 p.m. Presentation - Jacob Crandall 3:30-5:30 p.m. Lesson Plans Creation and Presentation - Training In Hotel 5:30 p.m. Adjourn June 25, 2025 6:45 a.m. Travel to Cherry Research Farm 7:00-9:30 a.m. Team Tasks (breaks in between) 9:30 a.m.-Noon Robert Jones Farm Tour Noon-1:30 p.m. Lunch 1:30-5:30 p.m. Asian Market - Raleigh, NC 5:30 p.m. Return to Hotel and Adjourn June 26, 2025 6:45 a.m. Travel to CEFS SFU 7:00-9:30 a.m. Team Tasks (breaks in between) 9:30 a.m.-Noon Tour Cherry Research Farm Noon-1:30 p.m. Travel Back to Hotel/Lunch 1:30-5:30 p.m. Asian Market - Cary, NC 5:30 p.m. Return to Hotel and Adjourn June 27, 2025 6:45 a.m. Travel to CEFS SFU 7:00-8:00 a.m. Team Tasks (breaks in between) and self-evaluation 8:00 a.m.-8:30 a.m. Travel to Wayne County Cooperative Extension Office and Farmer's Market 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Wayne County Cooperative Extension Office and Farmer's Market 11:30 a.m.-Noon Travel to hotel, and check out Noon-1:30 p.m. Lunch 1:30-5:00 p.m. Certificates, Evaluations, and Conclusion Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Twenty-seven educators attended the training in 2024. They came from 18 different counties, teaching subjects including special education, STEM, language arts, mixed subjects, CTE culinary, general sciences, agriculture, math, family and consumer sciences, social studies, and ecology. One homeschool teacher was also a part of the cohorts. Training programs were offered in four topics - sustainable agriculture and food systems, entrepreneurial planning for course and curricula, technology development, and professional communication. Specific topics of training include Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality application in youth education, web-based resources, field practices (production, organic operation, cover crops, agroforestry, NRCS practices), marketing strategies (visit specialty markets, identify specialty crops, price analysis, and customer assessment), financial implications, risk assessment (weather resilience, soil and nutrient management, pest management), and local food and personal health (cooking, value added development, human nutrition, food and health). All participants need to present their lesson plans to peers, receive critics, revise and modify lesson plans, and actually implement in their classrooms. Professional presentation, peer interactions, team games, and creative curricula development are the focus of our training. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We offered two information sessions in 2024 to recruit new participants in 2025. Over 200 teachers showed interests to participate, which was significantly larger than the 2024 applicants. The outcomes of the 2024 training were highlighted in the College Research Magazine by the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at North Carolina A&T State University. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to follow our proposed activities to implement this program. We will create a platform to host all the information including training materials, training communications, showcase of best practices, and mentoring support. We already have a timeline for recruiting, application, and selection, and we will continue following the same timeline. We will consider adjust training intensity, period, and materials based on the participants' input during summer 2024.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We have established a communication channel with all participants who will join the program in Summer 2025. Each participant received a confirmation letter to indicate the training period, their commitment, their willingness to attend the 5-day training, their needs for special accommodation or food preferences, and proper attire to work at the farm. We also provided a list of personal things for each participant such as sunscreen, bug spray, boots, and other supplies. Each participant must respond to confirm their participation by April 1, 2025. We have contracted and secured local lodging and meals for all participants. We contracted local tour bus services to provide transportation support to all participants to attend field trips and to commute between local hotel and the Small Farm Unit in Goldsboro NC. In 2025, there will be 7 instructors/trainers to offer fieldwork programs such as Integrated Pest Management, Conservation and soil health, cover crops and soil nutrient, specialty crops and ethic markets, consumer health and food safety, and technology and innovation in agricultural education. Here is the news release reported by the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at the North Carolina A&T State University. https://caesresearch.news/finding-the-ag-in-everything/ We learned important lessons and observed action changes among 2024 cohorts: (1) teachers were not aware of the diverse set of knowledge and information across disciplines related to agriculture and food systems, (2) teachers were eager to engage, yet needed more step-by-step guide to formulate lessons for their students; (3) teachers were looking for more information to engage students, keep students interested in certain topics, and deliver satisfactory results from learning. For 27 teachers participated in training in 2024, they totally taught more than 1000 students in 2024-2025 across North Carolina in more than 15 subjects. Many teachers were able to introduce and apply the lesson plans into classrooms. Some were waiting for a proper opportunity to implement lesson plans. Following the 2024 summer training, we offered two series of mentoring and reunion meetings with all participants. One-third of the participants attended the reunion, and shared their success with the whole group - excitement of students working on new activities, leadership development for students to initiate new ideas in agriculture, starting new programs at schools to raise awareness of agriculture relating to daily life and health.

Publications

Progress 06/01/23 to 05/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences are full-time teachers and administrators in North Carolina from K-14 schools (including technical center, community college, and pre-college programs). The priority is to provide hands-on and experiential learning opportunities for underserved communities and limited-resource school districts. We also include teachers and administrators who offer education to support youth with special needs. All disciplines are welcome to participate. Our goal is to increase the number of K-14 educational professionals trained in the agri-food system sciences via expert-guided interdisciplinary research to enhance faculty expertise and encourage widespread implementation of educational innovation at K-14 levels; immersive learning experiences (e.g., on-farm activities, experiential learning training, and field trips) and curriculum development and teaching training for K-14 education to improve student success outcomes continuous support, coaching, and mentorship for participants to integrate food and agricultural science concepts in their classes across disciplines to help students explore career opportunities in food and agriculture. The program is designed to offer 5-day immersive learning at the Small Farm Unit in Goldsboro, NC, as one of the six integrated farming units managed by the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The base of the training program is Dollar Enterprise© which was designed and implemented by Dr. Liang and it is a pioneering entrepreneurship educational program to be integrated into agri-food system concepts. This is a unique training program given three pillars of entrepreneurship - entrepreneurial mindset, entrepreneurial decisions, and entrepreneurial opportunities. Dollar Enterprise contents include business planning (production, market, finance, risk/uncertainty assessment), professional communication (oral presentations, written reporting, visual design, and peer interactions), and logistics of creativity (e.g., organic vs nonorganic operations, conservation practices, sustainable vs limited-term strategies). Participants will engage in (1) daily farming activities to incorporate conservation and environmental farming practices, (2) field trips to visit various farms engaged in sustainable farming operations, and (3) curriculum design and peer support to create a draft of new materials to bring back to their own schools. Participants will be recruited across NC school districts and multiple information sessions have been offered in Zoom. Each participant needs to submit an application package include- The school's need to promote and advance food and agricultural sciences Applicant's personal and professional development goals in advancing food and agricultural sciences via different courses and settings Applicant's willingness to commit time and effort to 5-day training in Goldsboro Teaching philosophy and experience Recommendations from supervisors, peers, and students Training approaches include Integrated research and hands-on activities to stimulate knowledge transfer and application - work at the farm Facilitated team works to follow the real-world work environment - shared values and responsibilities Peer-to-peer support to mirror networking in career development Monthly coaching and mentoring opportunities to support participants - will be scheduled in Zoom Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to follow our proposed activities to implement this program. We will create a platform to host all the information including training materials, training communications, showcase of best practices, and mentoring support. We already have a timeline for recruiting, application, and selection, and we will continue following the same timeline. We will consider adjust training intensity, period, and materials based on the participants' input during summer 2024.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We have established a communication channel with all participants who will join the program in Summer 2024. Each participant received a confirmation letter to indicate the training period, their commitment, their willingness to attend the 5-day training, their needs for special accommodation or food preferences, and proper attire to work at the farm. We also provided a list of personal things for each participant such as sunscreen, bug spray, boots, and other supplies. Each participant must respond to confirm their participation by April 1, 2024. We have contracted and secured local lodging and meals for all participants. NCA&T also agreed to provide transportation support to all participants to attend field trips and to commute between local hotel and the Small Farm Unit in Goldsboro NC.

Publications