STARKVILLE, MISS. — Mississippi State University (MSU) received a $485,000 grant from the US Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to educate and inform the next generation of agriculture leaders. In a four-year project titled Agricultural Science Professional Development, or ACRE 2.0, the university will instruct K-12 teachers how to integrate poultry and food science into their curriculum.

The program includes three cohorts of K-12 teachers who will participate for a full academic year. The first cohort consists of 28 teachers from 14 school districts across Mississippi.

The grant provides financial assistance for the teachers’ training and materials needed to administer the lessons.

Leading the training for the teachers is principal investigator and project director Stephanie Lemley, an associate professor in the Department of Teacher Education and Leadership at MSU, as well as other project leaders.

“Part of our program’s success relies on forging relationships between the university and our K-12 schools to collectively support literacy and introduce children to careers that will help feed their own and future generations,” Lemley said.

In addition to a focus on food science subject matter, the program seeks to introduce students to career pathways in food-related fields while forming a university-driven support and mentorship system.

The first cohort has already received the necessary training to begin incorporating ACRE 2.0 content in their lesson plans for the 2023-2024 academic year. Throughout the year, they will continue to attend follow-up training sessions and assessments.

“We hope that the teachers participating in ACRE 2.0 will share what they’ve learned with their colleagues so students can be empowered with knowledge about the food they eat and inspired to explore careers that they otherwise might not consider,” Lemley said.

MSU Associate Professor Kelley Wamsley and Assistant Teaching Professor Jessica Wells developed the ACRE 2.0 poultry science curriculum for teachers to use.

“Poultry is the No. 1 agricultural commodity in Mississippi, but most Mississippians don’t know much about the career opportunities in the industry,” Wells said. “We want to plant that seed early.”

MSU is currently recruiting teachers to participate in the second and third cohorts.