Agriculture + Lifestyle

Natalie Murray is one of eight teachers to receive the 2022 National Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Award.
Photo courtesy of Natalie Murray

Douglas County teacher Natalie Murray received national honors at the 2022 National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference held June 28-July 1 in Saratoga Springs, New York. 

Murray was one of eight teachers from across the country honored with the 2022 National Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Award for using ag topics in their lessons. 

Murray teaches music to kindergarten through fifth-grade students at Mirror Lake Elementary in Villa Rica using a large garden program to teach weekly lessons in agriculture, conservation, environmental stewardship and healthy living. She received Georgia Farm Bureau’s 2021 Georgia Agriculture in the Classroom Teacher of the Year Award. 

The National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and Farm Credit partner each year to honor teachers in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade (Pre-K-12) for the innovative ways they use agricultural concepts to teach reading, writing, math, science, social studies, technology, engineering and the arts.

Through the activities of county Farm Bureau volunteers in their local communities and through teacher training courses held statewide, the Georgia Agriculture in the Classroom program works to increase agricultural literacy among children and the public. The program provides tools for more effective teaching about agriculture and to assist Georgia educators in implementing the instruction of ag-related concepts in the classroom.

For more information about Georgia Ag in the Classroom and to access educational resources using ag topics visit www.gfb.ag/AITC .