Jade Davidson, executive director of Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom, said students need educational material about farming and ranching more than ever.

“With so many jobs connected to agriculture, we think it’s important for children to learn from a young age that there’s more to agriculture than just food,” Davidson said.
The organization is hoping to build understanding and awareness this spring with its calendar art contest and its 2025 literacy project.

Calendar contest

The annual calendar art contest, which has been held for at least 20 years, is for students in kindergarten through sixth grade.

Last year, 1,474 children submitted drawings for the calendar, Davidson said.

Artwork can be about anything related to Oregon, but can’t include logos, brands or trademarked characters.

Entries are collected on a rolling basis but must be postmarked by May 1.

Thirteen winning entries are selected — one for each month plus the cover — and winners are announced at the Oregon State Fair.

Besides appearing in the calendar, winners receive $50 each.

The calendar is distributed to 4,000 individuals across the state.

Literacy project

Volunteers are needed to visit K-4 classrooms to read and lead activities with students for Oregon Ag in the Classroom’s literacy project.

The featured book this year is “Outdoor Farm, Indoor Farm” by Lindsay Metcalf.

The rhyming picture book shows how outdoor and indoor agricultural operations sustainably grow food throughout the year.

Reading sessions start any time after March 24 and can be held until the end of the school year.

Start to finish, a reading session takes 30-45 minutes.

Materials are prepared for volunteers, and following visits, classrooms receive a copy of the book.

The literacy project has been held since 2009. In 2024, it had about 850 volunteers, often from FFA or Oregon Women in Agriculture chapters, Davidson said.

Some volunteers coordinated schoolwide readings that included multiple classrooms.

Overall, more than 900 copies of “Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt” by Kate Messner were donated to classrooms.

Nearly 19,500 students were part of the literacy project, making it the single largest program of Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom, Davidson said.

In surveys, teachers said the program made a difference in students’ learning and attitudes.

For more information on the calendar contest and the literacy project, visit the Oregon Ag in the Classroom website, https;//oregonaitc.org.