Bill Arp Elementary School STEAM teacher Karen Gorzynski has been recognized as the Douglas County Farm Bureau Ag in the Classroom Teacher of the Year for her work teaching students about agriculture and its importance.
The Ag in the Classroom award was started six years ago by South Douglas Elementary music teacher and choral director Natalie Murray, a former state and national agriculture teacher of the year.
Gorzynski maintains a certified Georgia native pollinator and Monarch Waypoint garden at Bill Arp, allows her students to observe and rear Monarch butterflies from eggs each fall and hatch chicks in the spring. She also helped add a vermiculture compost tower in Bill Arp's STEAM Lab, secured a grant to install two additional raised beds for the school's garden and plans to start an official garden club.
This year, her STEAM Lab's theme is "Every Day is Earth Day," and her classes have focused heavily on native pollinators and why protecting their habitats is important. Third through fifth graders each built a bee hotel for mason bees and leaf cutter bees from recycled soup cans to hang in their yards at home.
As part of the award, Douglas County Farm Bureau will send Gorzynski to the National Ag in the Classroom Conference in Providence, Rhode Island. Murray attended the conference in 2019 and called it "game-changing."
"I came back with a whole new zeal for teaching and providing experiences for students to learn where their food comes from, how to plant their own food and the amazing natural world around us!" Murray said.
In addition to the teacher award, Farm Bureau also sponsors a $500 grant for teachers who want to start a small garden, a chicken coop or another ag-related project. Those interested can contact the Douglas County Farm Bureau for more information.