Buena Vista County Ag teachers awarded IALF grants among 118 recipients

The Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation awarded 118 Agriculture in the Classroom Teacher Supplement Grants to educators in 50 Iowa counties, the foundation announced in a Feb. 4, 2026 press release; grants provide up to $200 per project and 49 of the 118 awardees are receiving IALF funding for the first time. The awards are intended to "build agricultural literacy through hands‑on, standards‑aligned experiences for students across the state," the release said.

Buena Vista County educators named among the recipients include seven Newell-Fonda teachers — Julie Sievers, Abby Gruhn, Bradi Sievers, Courtney Darrow, Kayla Wingert, Kyndal Hilgenberg, and Whitney McKeever — along with Micah Barnes of Storm Lake High School. Local coverage identified those northwest Iowa winners as part of the early-February round of awards announced by IALF.

Nearby northwest Iowa recipients named in local reports include Angelic Henningson of Schaller‑Crestland Elementary in Sac County; Janda Radke and Becky Juelfs of Galva‑Holstein in Ida County; Angie Schnepf and Sarah Brady at MMCRU Schools in Marcus and Terry Towne at River Valley Elementary in Washta in Cherokee County; Kathy Lansink and Megan Bennigsdorf of Laurens‑Marathon in Pocahontas County; Lindsay Pearson at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Spencer in Clay County; and Emma Fehr of West Bend‑Mallard in Palo Alto County.

Project examples cited by IALF and area reporting show the grants will fund a range of hands-on classroom work. Albia Family Consumer Sciences teacher Katelyn Weaver said the "Taste of Iowa: Farm to Family" project will connect classroom learning to community engagement, with cooking labs using local ingredients, guest farmer visits and student-created recipe cards: "Our Taste of Iowa: Farm to Family project will help students connect classroom learning to real‑world agriculture and community engagement," Weaver said. Prairie Point Middle School 8th grade teacher Josh Divoky described a greenhouse project funded by a grant: "Because of this grant, students will be able to study plant care and environmental systems, then apply their learning by cultivating plants in the school greenhouse," Divoky said.

IALF Executive Director Kelly Foss framed the grants as curricular connectors, saying, "These grants reflect the strength of agriculture as a real‑world context for learning. Through this IALF ag literacy initiative, teachers are helping students connect science, math, language arts, nutrition, and career exploration to Iowa agriculture, while building the knowledge they need to be informed citizens and future leaders."

The press release notes the grants support lessons, instructional materials, guest speakers, field trips and projects such as farm-to-fork cooking labs, farm robotics, pollinator studies, renewable energy lessons, aquaponics and egg-hatching programs. The IALF press release dated Feb. 4, 2026 also states a full alphabetical list of all 118 recipients and project descriptions is available on the IALF website for anyone seeking the complete statewide roster.