2025 Iowa Teacher of the Year - Melanie Bloom

09/04/2026

We've also started crops for research and identification purposes in the greenhouse, and yesterday we started the process of sanitizing and repotting dozens of houseplants that we will take cuttings from this winter.

One of my favorite new stolen ideas? Last week my biotechnology class made sidewalk posters showing changes in nutrition, food security, plant/animal health, environment, and more. I learned that not all sidewalk chalk is the same, and I should have gotten more of one set because they are really good, bold colors! (Thanks to Greg Barord at DMPS Central Campus for this idea)

09/04/2026

Nearly two weeks in and doing some great activities with students. This time of year we have crop plants to dissect, so I get to spend some evening/early morning time collecting samples (monocot and dicot crops and weeds). The other night was so still with the dragonflies at sunset, so I got a video to enjoy when things are a little more... hectic.

08/13/2026

Fun experience - check out the lineup of guest readers next week!

I got to read a new-to-me-this-year story about some agricultural scientists with ties to Iowa - George Washington Carver, Henry A. Wallace, and Norman Borlaug:

The Kid Who Changed the World - by Andy Andrews

Thanks to ISEA for sponsoring the program and the invitation to participate!

08/13/2026

Excited to visit the Iowa State Fairgrounds today (once these storms pass!) to be part of this fair event - I read at noon. I have one of my new favorite children's books along. Come take a look, it's in a book!

08/06/2026

Though I only worked with her on a limited basis this past year, Colleen's passion for education - especially in supporting teachers - was always evident. She will be greatly missed in all of the spaces she lived and worked in. I'm thankful for dedicated leaders like Colleen in education. My condolences to her family and her ISEA family.

It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of Colleen Heinz, ISEA Teaching and Learning Specialist.

Colleen dedicated her life's work to public education and the teaching profession. As a student member, association leader, and staff member, she poured her heart and soul into doing what was best for students and educators.

She will be missed dearly by her ISEA family. Our thoughts are with her loved ones, colleagues, and all whose lives she touched.

Obituary: https://www.batesgould.com/obituary/colleen-heinz

07/22/2026

On July 4, Disney aired an America 250 special 24-hour broadcast it. It was a special look at America's past, present, and future and I thoroughly enjoyed watching several hours of great content, leaving the day proud to be an American and proud to be an educator.

Also, if you missed it, there was a clip featuring Iowa agriculture that included a 20-second snippet of an interview I did back in May.

I've had several teachers ask about the link to potentially use in agriculture classes this year, so the gentleman that organized the interview shared the full clip link for me to pass along to you all.

I gotta tell you how much fun it was to work with Sara and Doug and several other ABC personnel. They even went so far as to reassure me on wardrobe planning the week before - I'm never confident I'm wearing the right thing. But even more fun was getting to watch behind-the-scenes during the interviews and B-roll footage filming that day. It's a process!

But even more, I left the experience wondering about how we bring agriculture and consumers closer together while also reducing our dependence on foreign agriculture. For the first period in our history, the U.S. experienced a shift to a negative balance of trade for agricultural products within the past decade, meaning we're importing more than we're exporting. That also means that we're not producing as much of our own food and agricultural products here as we maybe could.

Agricultural education is as important now as it's ever been. Support your local ag teacher!!!

Sara Haines returned to her home state of Iowa to examine the rich ...

07/07/2026

Quotes pulled from my end-of-year summary to the Iowa Board of Education in June - of all the topics I covered, this one resonated the most I think!

[I will clarify that not all students or careers require a college education, but I do like to see students earn associates', certificates, or credentials of some kind beyond their high school experience.]

07/01/2026

Follow Stephanie Pritts, 2026 Iowa Teacher of the Year, to see more teaching fun.

06/26/2026

Signing off -

It's been a wild, wonderful year and I hope I've left some of you with some thoughts that have been helpful.

Excited to be back at Sioux Central with our agriculture students, in our greenhouse and (new in January!!!) classroom, with some new curriculum (CASE biotechnology and horticulture enterprises; Tiny Earth; Iowa's Ag Heritage - and more!), and the familiar faces of long-time colleagues.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my stories, to learn from you all, and to serve as a statewide education ambassador!

What a year it has been for 2025 Iowa Teacher of the Year Melanie Bloom! As she wraps up her duties as Iowa’s ambassador to education, we take a look back at her incredible year of service, filled with once-in-a-lifetime experiences, valuable connections and new lifelong memories. 2025 Iowa Teacher of the Year - Melanie Bloom Sioux Central Community School District https://bit.ly/4xMwB0q

06/06/2026

The BEESTINGZ crew, much smaller in size, got together again to learn product and processing skills.

Starting two years ago (TWO YEARS ALREADY?!?), a cohort of science and ag teachers from four states gathered to learn about apiculture at Dordt University with some guys who've been keeping bees for a few decades. Then they developed a fairly fantastic curriculum (that's where yours truly got involved).

This next year, the focus switches to sharing what they've learned across their states. It's a great group of fantastic teachers - look them up!!!

Interested in the FREE, award-winning, WBL and STEM curriculum? Check it out: https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/129599/overview

This weekend I'm hauling some all-natural candles, lip balm, and lotion home and thinking about how to get these experiences into the hands of more students.