Wisconsin Ag in the Classroom has extended the deadline for the National Ag Day Youth Contest and is encouraging on-line and social media book reading to help celebrate National Ag Day on March 24.
Youth Contest
Students should draw and color a picture that shows people who are involved in growing, producing, processing, selling, preparing or somehow have another connection to food. They may focus on one person or several and may add a caption to describe their picture. The entry deadline has been extended to May 1.
The contest is open to children ages 12 and under with three divisions: ages 6 and under, ages 7 through 9 and ages 10 through12. The entry page and contest rules are located on the Wisconsin Ag in the Classroom website (wisagclassroom.org) under the Events and National Ag Day tab. All the contest rules and forms are in the 2020 Ag Day activities and contest booklet.
Ag Day Reading Event
People are invited to take their favorite children’s book about agriculture and set up a virtual, Facebook Live, or other social media reading. Because many libraries are closed, people may need to use their own library, borrow from a friend, or buy books online.  The recommended book is the Wisconsin Ag in the Classroom’s Book of the Year Right This Very Minute by Wisconsin author Lisl Detlefsen. The book is available for purchase through the online store on wiagclassroom.com. There are other past Book of the Years available online as well.
Readers are welcome to choose other accurate books about agriculture too. After the visit, participants are asked to complete a report form by June 1, available on the Wisconsin Ag in the Classroom website, so the outreach of the activities can be tabulated. Please use #WiReadsAg2020 on social media to talk about National Ag Day and your reading activity.
To download resources about National Ag Day, visit wisagclassroom.org or agday.org. The Ag in the Classroom is a program to help students K-12 to understand the importance of agriculture. The program is coordinated by the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Foundation in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with funding from the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Foundation, other agricultural groups, and a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.