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Farm Bureau donates 500th ag-friendly book

Pictured with Genee Dalton’s first grade class, from left, are Kathy Capps, STEM manager at the school; Donna Justice, of the Henderson County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee; Landon Stepp, FFA member; Dalton; and Linda Pryor.

By Lightning Reports, Published: February 13, 2023

The Henderson County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee recently presented the 500^th book it has donated as part of the Ag in the Classroom program to teach children where food and fiber come from.

Women’s Committee Chair Linda Pryor told Genee Dalton’s first graders she had something in common with all of them. Dalton was doing her student teaching when she was in first grade at Edneyville Elementary School and Dalton also taught Pryor’s daughter.

“You are so lucky to have her as your teacher,” Pryor said. “I still remember how special she made me feel as a student.”

“As people become more removed from farms, it is important to share educational opportunities so that they know where their food and fiber come from,” she told the class. “Through Ag in the Classroom, we are able to help expose students to agriculture at a young age, sparking interest early. It is our hope that your interest will continue, and that you might be interested in agriculture classes and clubs as you get older.”

The children’s books the Farm Bureau donates for grades K-3 “are all ag accurate,” Pryor said. The one the committee donated last month, “The Barn at Night,” is “about a child helping their parents go out and start feeding animals and doing morning chores before going to school.”

Pryor, who grows apples, corn and hay and raises beef cattle with her husband, Adam, got involved because “it’s important to advocate for agriculture,” she said. “I know how important it is to my family and our business.”

Joining Pryor for the presentation were Landon Stepp, a member of North Henderson High School’s Future Farmers of America, and Heather Morton, coordinator the Ag in the Classroom program for the Farm Bureau. In addition to giving the class the 500^th book in the three-year-old program, the Farm Bureau presented a $100 check for supplies to support farm education.