Ag in the Classroom leader Judy Culbertson retires

By Christine Souza

Judy Culbertson, executive director of the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom, has retired after more than 40 years of guiding the organization.

California Farm Bureau President Shannon Douglass lauded Culbertson for playing a significant role in raising awareness of agriculture. Ag in the Classroom provides educational resources to about 1 million students and thousands of teachers each year.

“Judy has introduced agriculture to generations of teachers and students, providing information about the value of the state’s diverse food and agricultural sector and showing how it connects to their everyday lives,” Douglass said.

On behalf of the foundation, created by the California Farm Bureau in 1986, Culbertson—who retired April 1—said she has spent her career creating resources, programs, events and other opportunities for teachers so students can learn more about where their food and fiber come from.

“To reach more people, we found that our niche was in curriculum, so we developed free resources that fit into every subject area, including science, math, English, nutrition, art and physical education,” Culbertson said. “Many teachers have never been on a farm or don’t know much about agriculture, so we try to make it as easy as possible.”

California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross praised Culbertson for her dedication to agricultural education.

“Throughout her career, Judy has touched so many lives of children, teachers and parents she may never meet but who have benefitted from her passionate commitment to ag literacy,” Ross said. “She has worked tirelessly to grow Ag in the Classroom to reach more students every year, and she has mentored talented young staff members to constantly evolve the program in changing times.”

After graduating from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business management, Culbertson took a job with the California Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers program. The role evolved to include development of agricultural education programs.

The idea to focus on agricultural education grew out of a phone call, Culbertson said.

“It was 1980 when we got the call from the San Francisco Unified School District,” she said. “The district asked if we could arrange a field trip for teachers to visit apple orchards in Sonoma County.”

The event was so successful, she recalled, “pretty soon, there were more field trips, and then schools wanted curriculum, so it blossomed.”

A year later, the Farm Bureau held San Francisco Farm Day, an event that attracted some 10,000 students from 20 schools and featured presentations by farmer volunteers from 10 different county Farm Bureaus.

“No matter if you are a city kid or a country kid, teachers find that kids relate to agriculture because it brings commonality among us, and all kids are interested in food,” Culbertson said. “I think teachers innately know that their students may not know much about their food and fiber, so if we can get them enthusiastic about school gardening, for example, that is a win.”

Culbertson said she has watched people’s interest in agriculture grow during her career, adding, “Ag in the Classroom has been promoting, educating and celebrating California-grown agriculture for decades.” She pointed to the 1995 initiative by the state Department of Education that launched “A Garden in Every School.” She said it brought hands-on learning about agriculture to thousands of schools statewide.

Under Culbertson’s leadership, one of Ag in the Classroom’s longest-running programs, the “Imagine this…” story-writing contest is now in its 30th year. It invites third- through eighth-grade students to write agricultural-inspired stories. Winning stories are illustrated by high school art students and published in a book.

The contest grew out of a partnership with Sacramento-based KMAX-TV, which held a story-writing contest. At Culbertson’s request, the theme for two years was agriculture. After the station dropped the contest, Ag in the Classroom kept it going. This year’s winning authors were celebrated last month during California Agriculture Day at the state Capitol.

Another popular resource, Culbertson said, is the “What’s Growin’ On?” student newspaper offered free to teachers for their classrooms. Viewed by 1 million readers annually, the paper began 22 years ago as a partnership with The Fresno Bee and is loaded with activities and information for students.

“The theme of the newspaper this year is ‘Fields of Innovations’ and contains information on all kinds of new technologies used in agriculture,” Culbertson said.

An event each September that attracts about 200 teachers is the Ag in the Classroom annual conference, which offers workshops, field trips, exhibits and more. Julie Cates, who teaches sixth grade at Linwood Elementary School in Visalia, described the event as innovative and “beyond any other teacher conference.”

At a recent conference, she said, “people were blown away” after hearing from a hospital chef who spoke about health and nutrition benefits of local produce that he sources from farms for the University of California, Davis, Medical Center.

Citing her professionalism and dedication, Cates credits Culbertson for engaging her to bring agriculture into her classroom.

“It was such a great experience to meet Judy and work with her. She just is very clever and conscious of bringing the agriculture industry to the regular teacher,” Cates said.

Ag in the Classroom, which has thousands of supporters and social media followers, Culbertson said, is working to expand its reach. One promising new initiative is a web-based application called “Knowin’ What’s Growin’.” Funded by a $500,000 Specialty Crops Block Grant, the app will help travelers through California identify and learn more about crops growing in the state’s 58 counties.

A fourth-generation farmer, Culbertson grew up on her family’s pear farm. As a child, she sold lemonade at the family’s packing plant and later managed fruit processing and distribution.

“As us kids got older, we just took on more responsibility,” she said.

Culbertson is a past president of the National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization, past chair of the California State Fair Agricultural Advisory Council, chair of the State Fair’s California Agricultural Heritage Club and is involved in many community organizations. Culbertson is a recipient of the California State Fair Agricultural Progress Award.

Culbertson said she is looking forward to spending more time with family and friends and spending time in the garden and volunteering. She and her husband, Jim, grow Bartlett pears and winegrapes in Courtland. They have two adult children and two grandsons.

Learn more about Ag in the Classroom at www.learnaboutag.org.

(Christine Souza is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)