MAELC Awards Grants to Support Ag, Food, Natural Resource Education

This past summer, the Minnesota Agricultural Education Leadership Council (MAELC) awarded over $132,200 in grants to school districts, post-secondary institutions, and organizations that work to improve agricultural education in the state. In its 25-year history, MAELC has provided over $21.8 million in competitive grants, scholarships, and sponsored projects.

Summer 2022 Grant Recipients:

• Academy for Sciences & Agriculture (AFSA) -- greenhouse update through installation of industry-grade equipment
• Belle Plaine High School -- hands-on equipment for two new classes--Animal Science and Large Animal Vet Science
• Canby Public Schools -- rolling tool set for the tear down, repair and re-building of agricultural equipment, supporting career exploration in agricultural mechanics and repair
• Central Public Schools (Norwood Young America) -- equipment to enhance students' experiential learning in Animal Science, Plant Science, and Wildlife and Environmental Sciences
• Chatfield High School -- equipment for new course offerings, including "Agriculture and Food Processing"
• Climax Shelly High School -- multi-process welders, to increase hands-on opportunities for students
• Denfeld High School (Duluth Public Schools) -- hydroponic equipment to allow students to design their own system and work with local farmers to learn best-practices
• Farmington Area Public Schools -- implementation of "Introduction to Veterinary Science" class
• Fosston High School -- food processing materials for new "Farm to Table" class to help students learn more about food processing, safety, and the agricultural supply chain
• Highland Park High School (St. Paul Public Schools) - equipment for two new courses-"Sustainable Food Production" and "Biotechnology"
• Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton High School -- aquaponics equipment for more hands-on learning in the Plant Science career pathway
• Keepin' It Rural -- podcast and supporting educational curriculum, with a focus on sharing knowledge and information about rural life, agriculture, food, and natural resources and related careers
• Lake Crystal-Wellcome-Memorial High School -- tower gardens for the aeroponic production of lettuce and leafy greens, which will highlight a variety of careers in plant science
• Le Sueur-Henderson High School -- floral cooler to be used in the brand-new "Floral and Landscape Design" course
• Minnesota Association of Agricultural Educators (MAAE) -- technology equipment to improve programming to all agricultural educators and supporters through virtual workshops, trainings, meetings, professional development, mentorship, and networking
• Minnesota Department of Education/Minnesota FFA Association -- partial coverage of subscription cost to the Agricultural Experience Tracker (AET), which is provided to every Minnesota agriculture, food and natural resource education program and allows students to keep track of soft and technical skills, and work as part of their Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)
• Minnesota FFA Association (Region 6) -- workshop for agriculture teachers to learn more specific components of FFA Career Development Events (CDE's)
• Minnesota State College Southeast -- instructional equipment for a project that brings together students, vegetable gardeners, educators and interested community members for four experiential workshops on plant and soil health
• Minnesota State University, Mankato - development and implementation of agriculture machine design and manufacturing automation modules
• South Junior High School (St. Cloud Public Schools) -- transportation for students to attend a day-long, hands-on Farm Camp Minnesota experience
• Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU) -- development, review and implementation of a strategic plan for SMSU's School of Agriculture to better serve the educational needs of current and future students, especially those from underrepresented populations
• St. Clair Public Schools -- classroom equipment for the implementation of a brand-new agriculture, food and natural resource education program

MAELC offers grants in two categories - Strategic Initiatives and Common Fund grants. Strategic Initiative grants are based on the strategies outlined in the 2025 Minnesota Agriculture, Food and Natural Resource (AFNR) Education Blueprint and focus on promoting access to AFNR education, improving current programs, and providing teacher professional development. Common Fund grants are awarded to applications having a statewide impact and are designed to meet specific goals related to the AFNR Blueprint. The next deadline to apply for a MAELC grant is November 15, 2022. For more information, visit https://mn.gov/maelc/grants.html.

MAELC is a 16-member legislative council that provides leadership to promote and expand agricultural education in Minnesota. The state legislature, agricultural educators, and agriculture industry leaders are all represented on the council.