Elementary school teacher Melissa Shirk has been named the recipient of an Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture award. Photo credit: Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation

Those of us who live in an urban environment sometimes forget that many educators work in rural environments, and they are Chalkboard Champions deserving of recognition, too. One of these is Melissa Shirk, an elementary school teacher from Tennessee who has been named the recipient of an Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture award from the American Farm Bureau Foundation.

The award is given annual to an educator in grades K-12 who has demonstrated involvement in agricultural literacy. Each recipient receives a $1,500 scholarship to attend the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference in June.

“Many of my students are surrounded by dairy farms, crop farms, and beef and pork producers,” explains Melissa. “I want to continue my knowledge of agriculture and provide my students with current resourceful information and activities to promote the science, engineering, technology, and mathematics of all agricultural areas through Ag in the Classroom,” she declares.

Melissa teaches at Loudon Elementary in the rural farming community of Philadelphia in east Tennessee.

Today’s Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation has a membership of more than 679,000 family members and is the largest state Farm Bureau in the nation.