Georgia Ag Experience Visits TCES

Courtesy of Toombs County Schools

Toombs Central Elementary School’s 3rd through 5th graders have a better understanding of how farmers grow their food thanks to the “Georgia Ag Experience” visiting their school on March 6-7.

The “Georgia Ag Experience” is a mobile classroom housed in a 36-foot trailer that offers elementary students the chance to take a virtual field trip to a farm without leaving their school. Colorful farm photos, interactive technology and displays of products made from various agricultural commodities grown in Georgia highlight the importance of agriculture to their daily lives. The “Georgia Ag Experience” highlights Georgia’s poultry, beef cattle, cotton, peanut, timber, horticulture, fruit, vegetable, and pecan farms.

The Georgia Foundation for Agriculture created and maintains the “Georgia Ag Experience” classroom with the support of numerous Georgia ag organizations.

“Toombs County Farm Bureau is grateful the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture selected our county and Toombs Central as a stop on the “Georgia Ag Experience” inaugural tour of Georgia,” said Toombs County Farm Bureau Office Manager Shelby Galbreath. “The mobile classroom is a wonderful way to let students who have little to no first-hand knowledge of farming to learn how farmers grow their food, cotton for clothes, or timber for paper and lumber. We appreciate the teachers and the principal, Ms. Levant, at Toombs Central for working with us to host the mobile classroom.”

Students learned how farmers plant and harvest their crops, take care of their livestock, and preserve the natural resources on their farms. The classroom also highlighted the many career options in agriculture. All exhibits and lessons that are part of the “Georgia Ag Experience” have been professionally designed to meet science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) standards.

The Georgia Foundation for Agriculture is partnering with county Farm Bureau offices across the state to arrange local mobile classroom visits. Teachers or school staff interested in booking the “Georgia Ag Experience” for a school or community event, should contact their local Farm Bureau. Only county Farm Bureau staff can book classroom visits with the foundation.

Visit www.gfb.ag/contact to access your local Farm Bureau’s contact information. Visit www.gfb. ag/ experienceplanavisit to access instructions for scheduling a visit and a list of dates the mobile classroom will be available across the state in 2023. For more information about the Georgia Ag Experience and a list of the ag organizations, agribusinesses and Georgia commodity commissions that are generously supporting the mobile ag classroom visit www.georgiaagexperience. org. Visit www.gfb.ag/ GAEclassroomvirtualtour to tour the classroom.

The Georgia Foundation for Agriculture is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to preparing the next generation of leaders for success in Georgia agriculture. The GFA works with Georgia Farm Bureau and other Georgia agricultural and educational organizations to achieve its mission. The foundation offers scholarships to students pursuing agricultural careers, funds leadership development programs and projects that increase the public’s understanding of agriculture. To make a tax-deductible donation, learn more about the foundation or the scholarships, visit www.gafoundationag. org or contact Lily Baucom at info@gafoundation.org or 478-405-3461.