Albany, Georgia — Students in Dougherty County will have the opportunity this spring to participate in free programming at Chehaw Park to learn about agriculture and natural resources through a partnership between Destination Ag and the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD).
Registration begins January 14th for the schools selected to participate this year. The curriculum will be geared for second grade students, and the program will take place at Chehaw Park on March 14th and April 4th. Destination Ag lessons will address various state standards, focusing on how humans can affect the environment, on how force is used in agricultural machines, on why understanding place value is important to farmers, and on discovering the different stages of a chicken’s life cycle. Students will also visit with Farmer Fredo, a local urban farmer/food champion and executive director of Flint River Fresh, and animals from the Chehaw Animal Park.
Five Dougherty County Schools were randomly selected to participate in the program this year. The schools eligible to register are Live Oak Elementary, Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary, Sherwood Christian Academy Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, and Lamar Reese Magnet School Elementary. Additional schools will be contacted to participate as space allows.
Destination Ag provides students with hands-on learning experiences about Georgia’s #1 industry, agriculture, and the natural resources on which we all depend. Previously, the donor funded program has only been available for on-site field trips for Berrien, Irwin, Tift, Cook, and Colquitt Counties. The partnership with the Flint River SWCD will bring the programming to Dougherty County with plans to expand to additional southwest Georgia counties in 2020.
For more information on how to register, visit flintriverswcd.org/destination-ag.
Destination Ag is a program of ABAC’s Georgia Museum of Agriculture with the mission to be a dynamic educational program connecting students and teachers to the importance of agriculture and natural resources in their daily lives. This mission is implemented through hands-on experiences and a focus on career paths in these industries. For further information about Destination Ag, visit www.abac.edu/museum/education/destinationag.
The Flint River SWCD is a state agency comprised of farmers, landowners, and community leaders that are dedicated to the conservation, wise use, and protection of natural resources in the Flint River Basin. The District was organized on July 22, 1939 following the Dust Bowl. If you would like more information about the Flint River SWCD, please visit flintriverswcd.org.
Photograph courtesy of Destination Ag