Ag Fest Awards $2000 in the Annual Agricultural Education Award

3 Organizations Recognized for Their Outreach Efforts

Salem, Oregon – April 8, 2024 – Oregon Ag Fest is excited to announce the winners of the twelfth annual Oregon Ag Fest Agricultural Education Award. This year, Grow Portland was awarded first place, the Community Roots School Outdoor Classroom received second, and Enterprise FFA received third place, for their exceptional efforts in agricultural outreach and education.

Grow Portland integrates affordable garden and agricultural education into the school day for PreK-5 th grade students, centering low-income students and students of color. In 2024, they are partnering with 14 Portland schools where every student receives monthly lessons in their school garden. This represents over 6,000 students, in over 200 classrooms, and creates hands-on activities as students grow their own food. This includes planting, weeding, watering, and harvesting, as well as washing and preparing produce for their school cafeteria to use. They will receive $1,000 for their advocacy efforts.

In second place, and receiving $600, is the Community Roots School Outdoor Classroom in Silverton, OR, which focuses on the premise that if children learn how to grow food, take care of soil, and raise animals they will become community members able to contribute to a healthier world. Their program includes a large school garden and propagation and wintering greenhouse, a small fruit orchard, a water catchment system and chickens and ducks for egg production to help students learn about the journey food takes to reach the plate.

In third place, receiving $400, is Enterprise FFA with their “Little Buddies” project, which pairs an elementary school student with a high school agriculture student. The mentoring program includes the students meeting once a week throughout the school year for a hands-on activity that introduces an agriculture concept, while also providing positive role models to students. The goal of the mentorship program is to get kids excited about agriculture and learn about where their food comes from.

The purpose of the Ag Fest Agricultural Education Award is to reward student organizations, non-profit organizations, or classrooms that promote and educate Oregonians about agriculture and extend the Oregon Ag Fest mission beyond its annual, two-day, interactive event. “As Oregon Ag Fest celebrates 37 years of growing awareness for the importance of agriculture in our communities, we are proud to continue to support the agricultural education outreach efforts of non-profit and student organizations this year,” said Corey Burns, Oregon Ag Fest Chair. “Oregon Ag Fest is dedicated to educating the public about the importance of agriculture, and we see this award as a way to encourage and support student groups and non-profit organizations that have programs and activities aimed to accomplish the same thing,” Burns added.


About Oregon Ag Fest

Oregon Ag Fest is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) volunteer organization dedicated to educating the public about the importance of agriculture. Visit the Oregon Ag Fest website to learn more about the family oriented event that has been educating Oregonians for over 30 years about where their food and fiber comes from, and helping people experience life on the farm. Over 20,000 people attend Ag Fest annually to touch, taste, and experience the incredible world of Oregon agriculture in a fun-filled, festive environment.