With turkeys underfoot, plants growing in the greenhouse and a mountain of a compost pile, fifth and sixth grade students at Northeast Hamilton Community Schools are fortunate to have agriculture incorporated into almost each and every component of their classroom curriculum. The Iowa Ag Literacy Foundation recently recognized the students’ instructor, John Seiser, with a teaching award for his efforts in exposing the kids to agriculture.

As an upper elementary teacher from Blairsburg, Seiser is the first recipient of the Iowa Excellence in Teaching Agriculture Award. The awards program is a project of the Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation and is supported through a grant from the CHS Foundation.

“It was very exciting to win the award. I honestly didn’t expect it. I’m a very hands-on teacher, and I think kids learn best by being hands-on. My initial focus just snowballed into more and more projects,” Seiser said. “It’s very important that the kids learn where their food is coming from. ...