While farmers are hard at work fueling a growing world, teachers are fueling the knowledge needed to grow it through the Nourish the Future program, funded in part by Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board (WSMB) checkoff dollars.  

“Investing checkoff dollars in the Nourish the Future program is so important because we’re sowing the seeds of education and growth for tomorrow’s agricultural leaders,” said Patrick Mullooly, president of WSMB.  

The program, developed by science teachers for science teachers, sets out to inspire a network of educators to foster critical thinking, connect students to modern agriculture and provide sound science-based resources that meet teachers’ and students’ needs in the classroom. The educational opportunity to connect the farm to the classroom is one that Kelly, a Nourish the Future Teacher Leader and Wausau middle school teacher, considers an asset for her and her colleagues.  

“It’s a very important thing to be able to move forward to feed our growing population and all people need to help make decisions to progress forward,” Kelly said. “Helping my students become informed citizens is so important to me.”  

During her five years of involvement in the program, Kelly says she has enjoyed utilizing the free materials provided through the Nourish the Future website to promote critical thinking among her students, including lessons that cover how to address various agricultural challenges with DNA technology.  

“Students can dive deeper, do research and teach their peers some real-life examples of things they research, and then they go to the next level and ask which of the technologies they would use to help solve a certain problem,” Kelly said. 

“Learning science through agriculture inspires students to pursue critical scientific careers—many of which are currently going unfilled in the agriculture industry,” said Gary Abud, Jr., director of education at Nourish the Future. “By sharing what she learned through Nourish the Future, Kelly is opening up new opportunities for students and her colleagues and enhancing the way we teach science.” 

Applications are being accepted for the 2025 Nourish the Future Teacher Leader Community Fellowship Program. This is the sixth class of the fellowship program, with 25 spots available for teacher leaders. A team of national educators and stakeholders will have input on the teachers selected from around the U.S. to participate. Click here to apply.