Ag Moves Reaches Tomorrow’s Consumers Through Agriculture Lessons Today
By: Emma Alexander -
Missouri Farmers Care’s Agriculture Education on the Move™ (Ag Moves) is gaining notoriety in Southwest Missouri. This curriculum of ten foundational agriculture lessons has become an annual tradition for elementary students at New Covenant Academy and the AgAcademy of Springfield Public Schools. The program’s versatile and flexible presence is proven in urban and rural schools, and in both public and private institutions. In 2025, with the leadership of new regional coordinator, David Aldrich, Ag Moves continues to gain momentum and increase its impact across classrooms and summer enrichment programs with the same big goal: teaching tomorrow’s consumers to understand their food, fuel, and fiber today.
Ag Moves into New Covenant Academy
The cords on the flagpole snap as Mr. David Aldrich arrives at New Covenant Academy (NCA), an accredited Christian school in Springfield, Mo. Each week, Mr. Aldrich teaches NCA third graders about the agriculture all around them with a lesson from Ag Moves, a series of ten, STEM focused, hands-on lessons.
Ag Moves has been a part of NCA’s third grade science curriculum for three years. Teacher Ms. Julie Lambeth shares how the students get excited for Ag Moves lessons-even sometimes wearing special hats or overalls.
Connecting Missouri Social Studies and Science
“We teach Missouri social studies during the fall semester, then transition to science in the spring, and Ag Moves plays a key role in connecting the dots and tying the semesters together,“ Ms. Lambeth describes. “These lessons show our students a complete picture of Missouri because our state has a rich heritage in agriculture.”
“Each year when Ag Moves returns, I learn something new,” says fellow third grade teacher, Ms. Tammi Opoka, who moved to Missouri from California.
“Our students love the workbooks. We love that a STEM activity is included each week. The curriculum is well done, based on learning standards and an excellent addition to our lesson plans. After the first year, we were hooked,” continues Ms. Lambeth.
Mr. Aldrich engages students with an interactive visual presentation about the life cycle of pigs and pork production, and teaches that it takes three months, three weeks, and three days for piglets to form in the womb. “Wow,” says Ms. Lambeth. “Who knew?”
Ag Moves into the AgAcademy
With a sack of bingo prizes, a herd of cattle, and a smile, Mr. Aldrich arrives at the AgAcademy of Springfield Public Schools. For ten weeks of the spring semester, he teaches Ag Moves lessons to fourth graders at the Academy. Mr. Aldrich shares his scale-sized herd of toy cows to teach students about different breeds and purposes of cattle before playing a game of beef bingo.
Adding More Value to Agricultural Lessons
Ms. Kate Marble, a veteran educator and fourth grade teacher, has helped develop the curriculum at this Springfield magnet school because she believes in the value of students learning with their hands. “Our students don’t just ‘set and get’ with Ag Moves, each hands-on activity provides a foundation for and solidifies lessons that are in our programmed curriculum,” says Ms. Marble. “Ag Moves is an opportunity for our students to connect and communicate with a visiting educator.”
“Ag Moves is an important part of our AgAcademy because it offers lessons about large animals such as cattle and hogs that our students wouldn’t otherwise get to experience,” says Ms. Sarah Ward, fellow fourth grade Academy teacher.
Springfield students at Wanda Gray Elementary, Rutledge-Wilson Farm Park, SPARC After School Program, and the Greenwood Laboratory School also enjoyed the Ag Moves curriculum taught by local educators this spring.
New Leader, New Opportunities
David is new to the Ag Moves team this year. During his career in education, he was an agricultural instructor and a K-12 principal. He looks forward to leveraging his extensive experience and network to get Ag Moves into more classrooms. Through his administrative perspective and agricultural insight, he shares the story of Ag Moves and helps schools understand the standards-based curriculum value that the program provides. “Ag Moves is the most unique program I have ever seen. It encourages students to pursue careers in education, gives them real world classroom experience, and teaches our next generation about their food, fuel, and fiber.”
What’s Next?
“I am excited that we will have Ag Moves collegiate interns teaching these lessons as a part of summer enrichment programs in Southwest Missouri for the first time this year,” David shares. “Meanwhile, I will be encouraging more FFA chapters in our region to partner with the program.” During the 2024-2025 school year, more than 20 FFA chapters in southwest Missouri partnered with Ag Moves to teach the lessons in local, elementary classrooms.
What is Ag Moves: Ag Moves is a series of ten, STEM-focused, hands-on lessons for elementary students that explore crops, livestock, soil and water conservation, nutrition, and careers in agriculture. The lessons align with Missouri state learning objectives in science, math, social studies, and language arts and show students how agriculture is entwined in their daily lives.
By the Numbers: Thanks to the dedication and drive of professional educators, collegiate interns, and 881 FFA partner educators, Ag Moves engaged over 12,600 third-grade students in 2024. The Missouri Farmers Care Foundation, which hosts Ag Moves, supplies curriculum, materials, and trained educators at no cost to participating schools. A list of elementary schools receiving Ag Moves programming in the spring of 2025 can be found here.
Ag Moves Partners: Ag Moves is hosted and funded by Missouri Farmers Care and its Foundation, a coalition of over 40 agriculture groups in Missouri. Support comes from Missouri soybean farmers and their checkoff, as well as the MFA Oil Foundation, FCS Financial, MFA Incorporated, Missouri Corn Merchandising Council, the Missouri Beef Industry Council, and the Missouri Fertilizer Control Board. To learn more or to become a funding partner, visit www.agmoves.com.