FAITC Announces Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Award
Four teachers who educate students about agriculture have won Florida Agriculture in the Classroom’s Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Award.
This year’s overall winner is Ponce De Leon Middle School science teacher Kitchka Petrova. She’ll compete for the national version of the award.
Petrova, who has a microbiology doctorate, uses her background to educate sixth- and seventh-graders at the Coral Gables school about biotechnology. Her students have learned to create plant tissue cultures and to use studies of plant DNA to develop plants that are pest and disease resistant and cold tolerant.
Debra Wagner, a fourth-grade teacher at St. Paul Lutheran School in Lakeland, won the the elementary level award. Her students learn about hydroponic gardening using their school garden, paid for with Florida Ag in the Classroom grant money. Her students help raise milkweed seedlings, build rain barrels and grow vegetables for a local food pantry.
Wayne Worthley, agriscience teacher at Redland Middle School in Homestead, won the middle school agriscience award. He’s a Future Farmers of America adviser and some of his students’ projects have included growing winter vegetables, tropical fruits and ornamental plants.
Andrea Santilli, a Navarre High School science teacher, won the high school award. Her students learn about plant propagation, stem cutting and air-layering techniques. A local master gardener has helped take her botany courses to a higher level, offering the students monthly workshops.
The four winners and their administrators win a free trip to the national Agriculture in the Classroom Conference in New Orleans in June and the teachers will be honored at the group’s state workshop at the Cocoa Beach Hilton later that month.
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Kitchka Petrova
