Madison County CAREE/Ag in the Classroom

Check out what the CAREE Program has been up to in the Spring 2026 edition of CAREE Partners! 🌱🌷🐣🪱

CAREE was happy to be a part of the Summer Reading Program Kick-Off at Louis Latzer Memorial Public Library. There were 290+ attendees at this Friday, June 5, event. CAREE provided the opportunity to plant flower seeds. 🌸

Summer Ag Institute 2026 | Day 2 Recap

The second day of our SAI started with an eye-opening visit to the Glen-Ed Pantry, where Jane showed us the ins and outs of the pantry and the connected thrift store. The book A Saturday at the Food Pantry was highlighted to connect this experience to a valuable lesson for the classroom. 🥫🧃

Next up, we headed to The Gardens at SIUE for a tour with Carol, a Master Gardener. Carol is a retired teacher, so she knew the best spots teachers could use to explain concepts such as pollinators, erosion, and habitats. Following our tour, Chelsea from Farm Credit Illinois joined us at the garden center with a simplified version of a farm futures activity to explain the process of borrowing money and insuring crops. 🦋🪏🌾

After lunch, the final part of our two-day workshop was a three-hour presentation from Kevin with Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom. He brought agriculture lessons focused on technology, as well as information about grants and resources available to teachers.💻

Again, we thank all of our presenters for their part in making this workshop so engaging, as well as our participants for their eagerness to expand their educator toolbox!

Summer Ag Institute 2026 | Day 1 Recap

Yesterday was the first day of our fun-filled Summer Ag Institute! We began the morning by visiting Lynn Grotefendt to learn about life on the farm from a woman in agriculture herself. With a short trip down the road, we visited her son, Brian, where we got to see and learn more about farm equipment. 🚜

Next on the agenda was a visit from Jessica with STLDairyCouncil for all things dairy and cheese. After hearing about available resources, our educators had the opportunity to compare and contrast two different types of Gouda. 🧀🥛

From there, we headed to Mooney Hill Produce, where David showed us around the gardens and shared his experience growing produce. 🍅🫑

Back at the office, we enjoyed a loaded potato bar lunch followed by a presentation on food waste from Carol at Willoughby Heritage Farm and Conservation Reserve. Joining her was Mary from Good Dirt Composting Collective, who shared ways to incorporate composting into everyday life. 🪱🍂

Following these presentations, we made our way to Samara’s International Market to explore foods from around the world.🌏🧆🥟

We thank all of our presenters for being a part of this great educational opportunity!

Just like that, another school year is complete! With a grand total of 350+ lessons in our Land of Illinois series, 4th graders across the county now have a basic knowledge of our leading industry and, hopefully, a curiosity to keep learning about agriculture.

Thank you to all the teachers who found time for CAREE to visit. Thank you to our CAREE partners who keep the program running. We have a busy summer ahead of us and are already looking forward to next year’s 4th graders!

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Every year, CAREE exhibits a Chemical Look-a-Like station at the Highland, IL FFA Annual Progressive Ag Safety Day. Groups of 6th graders rotated through stations at the fairgrounds, and when they arrived at ours, they learned all about how to properly handle and store chemicals, as well as what to do in emergencies. 🧪🫧🥽😷

CAREE was pleased to join University of Illinois Extension: Madison County 4-H and Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District for the first Conservation Day in decades. At our station, we featured pelts given to us by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. This way, the students could explore IL mammals with hands-on interaction. 🦫🦝🦨

Thanks to Teen Teacher, Amelia Reding, for assisting us with this event.

CAREE interacts with hundreds of teachers each school year, and we see firsthand the effort and care they pour into their students. Tuesday, May 5, is National Teacher Appreciation Day, but we are grateful for our teachers every day.

Whether welcoming us into their classrooms, utilizing our kits, or attending our workshops, their dedication and commitment to education never go unnoticed. Thank you for all you do to inspire and shape the next generation!🍎✏