FLP offering teacher workshops

The North Dakota Food, Land and People program is offering educators a variety of workshop opportunities in 2012.

Gail Bakko, North Dakota Farm Bureau director of special programs, said the FLP Institute, held last summer, was such a success, two institutes will be held in 2012. In addition, an online version of the workshop will also be held

“We were extremely happy with the success of last year’s Institute,” Bakko said. “While Food, Land and People lessons are still the focus of Institute, educators are introduced to many more hands-on activities, tours and free materials that they appreciate.”

The FLP Institute on Conservation will be held June 12-15 in Fargo. The FLP Institute will be held July 17-20 in Bismarck.

The FLP Online Course will get under way June 4.

“The online course is an opportunity for educators who cannot travel to workshops to take the class at their own convenience,” Bakko said.

An FLP session on food, nutrition and consumer science will be held Aug. 7-8 in Wahpeton and an FLP introductory course will be held in Fargo on Aug. 9-10.

Educators looking to get more credit and fee details, download course syllabi or register for the workshops can go to www.ndfb.org/ edusafe/flp.

Bakko said several county Farm Bureaus will assist local teachers with scholarships to help defray workshop expenses. In addition, $50 scholarships will be given to educators who help promote the workshops from the Frank Deitz memorial fund. Deitz, the husband of FLP facilitator Ginger Deitz, was killed in a car crash last November.

To participate in the scholarship opportunity, registrants should send an email to gails@ndfb.org with a paragraph explaining how they have spread the word about the workshops.

FLP is a 55-lesson curriculum developed for grades K-12 educators to integrate easily into classrooms. The instructional units address core content and North Dakota state standards and benchmarks with inquiry-based learning activities. Lessons were created and written by educators for educators and were rigorously tested and evaluated across the nation.

Funding for the workshops come from the North Dakota Ag in the Classroom, a program of the North Dakota Department of Agriculture.

Tags: community, education