ARTHUR – Pam Woodhouse, a Grade 3 teacher at St. John Catholic school in Arthur, is this year’s recipient of the AgScape Teaching Excellence in Agriculture and Food Education Award.
But to Woodhouse, it’s AgScape that deserves the credit.
“It’s a great program to have,” she said, noting she hopes more teachers discover it.
The charitable organization, a member of Agriculture in the Classroom-Canada, is where Woodhouse got her teaching start.
“I was a teacher ambassador when I first got into teaching,” she said.
Woodhouse, who has a small hobby farm near Ariss, has been teaching for nearly 10 years, but joined the profession as a second career, after working as an agricultural account manager for TD Bank.
While she was starting out in teaching and working as a supply teacher, she also worked for AgScape’s Teacher Ambassador Program, which brings teachers into classrooms to teach curriculum-linked workshops related to agriculture and food.
“My focus was being able to engage the children to take an interest in farming,” she said.
It’s something Woodhouse continues to focus on now that she has her own classroom.
In the past she has done things like organizing a field trip to the International Plowing Match, when it was held locally, to allow her students to witness agricultural practices first-hand.
She also takes her students to the “Pizza Perfect” event hosted by the Grand River Agricultural Society at the Grand River Raceway in Elora, where they take part in hands-on activities and see demonstrations related to the farming and food-processing that goes into making pizza.
“It’s pretty exciting, and the children are so engaged,” she said of the program.
But Woodhouse and her students don’t have to go far to learn about agriculture.
She said the learning opportunities can be as simple as going on hikes near the school, where there’s a farmer’s field, and discussing what is happening in that field in any given season.
The farmer has even hopped off his tractor to stop and talk to the students about his work.
Woodhouse has also brought chickens into the classroom, and each year her class takes part in the county’s Green Legacy program, where they plant and care for oak seedlings and learn about the importance of trees for agriculture and the environment.
“It has been fun to be able to incorporate agriculture in the classroom,” she said.
Woodhouse added she enjoys teaching in a rural community.
“There’s quite a few children in our community that have a pre-existing knowledge” of farming, she said, and “they are excited to be learning more.”
Woodhouse’s AgScape award, which is sponsored by Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show, comes with $1,500 in cash and a certificate acknowledging her significant impact on agriculture and food education within the classroom.
“I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to Pam on this achievement,” Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness Rob Flack stated in a news release announcing the award.
“AgScape is one of many OMAFRA-supported initiatives that are helping to attract and build future agri-food talent across the province, which is key to the sector’s continued success.”
“Working with extraordinary educators is one of our greatest privileges at AgScape,” AgScape executive director Mira Lyonblum stated in the release.
“Without teachers like Pam going above and beyond, we would not be able to empower students across Ontario to see themselves as an integral part of our agriculture and food system.”
Woodhouse said her students are excited to be learning about agriculture, and she makes use of AgScape’s resources to incorporate it into her lesson plans.
“AgScape is really such a great resource,” she said.
Being able to combine teaching with her love of farming is a dream, she stated in the release.
“I am both humbled and honoured to be recognized in this way, and I look forward to continuing to inspire and educate others about the importance of agriculture.”
