Teacher Wins Excellence in Teaching About Agriculture Educator Award

Submitted by the Cherokee County School District

Free Home Elementary School teacher Carmen Power is the 2014 Georgia Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Educator Award winner.

A fourth- and fifth-grade science teacher, Power will receive a $500 grant for use in her classroom as part of the award presented by the Georgia Farm Bureau, the Cherokee County School District said on Friday.

She will receive the award at the Georgia Farm Bureau Annual Meeting on Dec. 7 in Jekyll Island and will present a workshop at the organization’s Educational Leadership Conference in March in Stone Mountain. Power will represent Georgia at the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference this summer in Kentucky (the value of this trip is $1,500) and will be entered into the 2016 National Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Educator Award competition.

The award recognizes one teacher in Georgia who makes an outstanding effort to introduce agricultural information into their classroom curriculum in an effort to assist students in learning the importance of agriculture. Nominees, who are nominated by a county Farm Bureau, must complete an application that includes a narrative about how they make agriculture education a part of their classroom; an agriculture education lesson plan; and letters of recommendation from the county Farm Bureau, the school’s Principal and a fellow teacher.

Power’s sample lesson was “How do we grow food in small spaces?” which used the school’s new greenhouse for agriculture activities that integrated inquiry into science, plant biology, critical thinking and mathematics.

“My goal this year is to bring agricultural awareness to my students and use these topics to teach my science content as well as bringing in language arts skills, geography/social studies, and most certainly math,” Power said in her award application. “The most important skills I hope to instill in my students is being able to think critically and problem solve. If I can spark the interest of even one child in an area of agriculture, I am hopeful that the farming lifestyle will continue to impact our community.”

Power, who was named the school’s 2013 Teacher of the Year, joined the faculty in 2003 and is a certified gifted teacher. She earned her bachelor’s degree in education from Kennesaw State University and her master’s in education and specialist in curriculum and instruction degrees from Piedmont College. In addition to her teacher responsibilities, Power coaches the school’s Science Olympiad team and 4-H Club.

Power will be recognized by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Petruzielo and the Cherokee County School Board during the board’s meeting on Dec. 4.

Photo: Free Home Elementary School fourth- and fifth-grade science teacher Carmen Power works with her students in the school’s new greenhouse. She is the 2014 Georgia Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Educator Award winner. Credit: Cherokee County School District