Teacher of the Year 2008

 Kate Nelson is currently in her fourth year of teaching.  She teaches 3rd grade at Washington Elementary in Pierre, SD.  Growing up in Madison, South Dakota, she has been surrounded by agriculture all her life.   Ms Nelson is being recognized for her implementation of SD Ag In The Classroom's Mission Agriculture newspaper series in her classroom.  The resources and hands-on lessons were utilized through out the school year.
     “My overall goal is to help students have a better understanding of agriculture. I wants to help  students understand how South Dakota
agriculture affects their everyday lives.” Various agriculture related activities have been implemented into Kate’s classroom which connects to curriculum standards of SD.
     One of the big projects her third graders participated in is making the book called, “The Very Hungry South Dakota Caterpillar”, which incorporates details of crops and animals in SD.  Along with this book Kate also used other activities with students, including: farm charms, pumpkin life cycle, pumpkin experiments, making ice cream, learning about cows and the parts of their stomach, all while studying the materials in the Mission Agriculture newspapers.
     “Throughout the year, it was enjoyable to watch the students engage in learning about South Dakota agriculture with hands-on approaches. Each time, the students were more and more eager to learn new information. Completing The Very Hungry South Dakota Caterpillar book was a great way to recap what they had learned during the year.   I’m excited to share this project with more students and other teachers.”