National Agriculture in the Classroom

At the very end of June, Jess and I had the opportunity to give the Keynote address to the National Ag in the Classroom conference held at the beautiful Wigwam Resort outside of Phoenix. This was the swankiest conference we have EVER been to! The food was incredible (I've been having almost inappropriate dreams of the corn, lime, choyote salad they served) and the digs were very nice. But mostly, we loved the participants we met at this small conference that celebrates teachers, administrators and Ag professionals who recognize the vital role that agriculture science plays in the classroom. 

We flew down crazy early on a Thursday and by that afternoon I was teaching a CEU workshop called "Bugdork: using insects in the classroom to inspire learning." I teach about which insects are great to use in a classroom setting, for both student engagement and ease of use on teachers and I set up an old school entomology lab in the back of the room with Celestron (hyperlink) microscopes. (We have a great partnership with Celestron, and I love their equipment so I use it whenever I can.)

That night we were treated to a great expo where we got to sample some products and meet some of our fans! Yes, you read that right. People wanted to take selfies with us! It was very cool. But the coolest thing we did? We met a giant Watusi cow with The. Biggest. Horns. Ever. His name was General. I touched his wet nose.

After we gave the (awesome, if I do say so myself- when we get the video we will post it here) Keynote the next morning, Jess and I drove to Sedona to see the sights and get our palms read. Don't judge, it's fun.

Thanks to Celestron for sponsoring my workshop! I'm gearing up to teach at the Insect Expo at the Interantional Congress of Entomology in Orlando in September.