Ag News

GFA announces Fall STEM Challenge winners

Georgia elementary classes in third through fifth grades put their science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills to work in the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture’s Fall 2024 STEM Challenge, Turning Trash Into Treasure. Special education classes, homeschool groups and community or after-school groups participated in this hands-on sustainability project.

The challenge tasked students with answering the question: “Why is composting important, and how do brown and green materials break down differently?” To explore this, students created compost bins, documented the decomposition of organic waste and shared their findings through creative video presentations.

First-place winners were selected in four categories: after-school groups, third grade, fourth grade and fifth grade. Each received a prize package totaling $350 for their class.

The Ithica Elementary Garden Club from Carroll County, led by Lura Scruggs, won first place in the after-school category for their teamwork, detailed research and creative use of compost to enrich their school garden.

Rowes Growers from Austin Road Elementary in Barrow County, led by Andrea Rowe, earned first place in the third-grade category. Their entertaining skit about worms’ role in composting and their use of household materials to create compost bins impressed the judges.

The homeroom class of Amanda Edwards from Chattahoochee County Education Center took first place in the fourth-grade category. Their project demonstrated strong research and a clear understanding of how green and brown compost materials break down differently.

The Trash Transformers from West Point Elementary in Troup County, led by Valerie Carter, claimed first place in the fifth-grade category. The team creatively used cafeteria scraps and materials from the school grounds to build their compost bins and involved the entire school community in the process.

“This challenge gives students a hands-on way to learn about sustainability,” said Phoebe Beard, Georgia Foundation for Agriculture educational programs assistant. “We were so impressed by their creativity and hard work, and we cannot wait to see what ideas they come up with for the next challenge in February.”

The biannual STEM Challenge is organized by the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture’s Georgia Ag Experience mobile classroom program and sponsored by the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture and Georgia Farm Bureau.

The next STEM Challenge will launch in February. For more information and to see the winning videos of the fall winners, visit www.gfb.ag/stemchallenge.

---

• Categories:

• Tags:

---