The Canadian Agriculture Producers (CAP) will be moving into its 26th year of teaching urban and rural Grade 4 students about farming and ranching.
Many Rocky View schools have participated in the program in the past including Prairie Waters Elementary School in Chestermere, Langdon School and Nose Creek Elementary in Airdrie.
Coordinator for CAP Karen Spelay called the program “informative” for students, regardless of their background.
“We talk about the opportunities and the value of agriculture and how it impacts them in ways they might not be aware of,” she said.
Many kids are surprised to learn the different people connected to the agricultural industry, Spelay said.
“Vets, food safety inspectors and restaurants — we have people from all areas and different experiences,” she said.
The program, entirely free to schools, brings in special speakers and presenters to spend an hour educating students on a host of different facets of agricultural life.
Doug Rodney, a Grade 4 teacher at Prairie Waters Elementary School in Chestermere, said his students were tuned in when they had a speaker come talk to them.
“We had the privilege of a Chestermere High School student,” Rodne said. “He was very thorough and thoughtful and very engaging with the students.”
For Rodney, helping today’s kids learn about the oft-forgotten culture is important as ever.
“If kids think it comes from a Safeway store and don’t logically go back and think about where it comes from, there is a disconnect there,” he said.
Doris Krause has been a CAP volunteer for 15 years and is now a volunteer coordinator for Calgary.
She said the benefits to children are immeasurable. “We have to foster those connections to make sure there’s an appreciation for it.”
“Kids are surprised to know that scientists or bankers might have connections to agriculture,” said Krause.
“Both rural and urban children need to be schooled in food production,” she said.
“The kids are interested in learning about agriculture.”
After presentations, teachers receive followup material to further educate their students about agriculture.
The program is delivered between February and June of each year.
Fall and winter are spent maintaining and recruiting volunteers.
Spelay said the program is particularly important for the current crop of fourth graders who are increasingly experiencing less of a connection to agriculture.
“Agriculture maybe isn’t as strong as it used to be in generations past,” she said. “It’s just creating that connection between students and agriculture.”
More than 14,000 Alberta students participated in CAP last year in 390 schools.
