b'Outreach and Education The agricultural community in Illinois actively communicates to aMrs. Roxanne Green, Knox variety of audiences including farmers, rural landowners, the generalCounty AITC Specialist, came public, teachers, and students. Agricultural organizations in Illinoisto my 5th grade classroom have robust communication platforms and the ability to get news and information out quickly in a variety of formats. to teach about monarch Ag in the Classroom (AITC) butterflies. She brought in over The Ag in the Classroom program seeks to improve agricultural60 eggs on milkweed leaves. literacyawareness, knowledge, and appreciationamong PreK- She modelled the scientific 12 classrooms. AITC curriculum is comprised of a wide variety ofprocess of investigation, making topics focusing on crop and livestock production and environmental stewardship, which includes pollinators and monarchs. AITC is activea hypothesis, and research. The in 94 counties in Illinois. AITC coordinators and volunteers teachstudents were assigned tasks on classes in schools and speak at numerous local civic and social groups.planting, watering, observing, Pollinator-related curriculum makes up a major part of AITCand egg collection. Mrs. Green presentations and workshops. In 2018, Ag in the Classroom reached:taught us how to collect the seeds from milkweed pods so694,449 students, 41,369 teachers, andwe could replant. I look forward 143,518 community members across Illinois to having Mrs. Green come back to my 5th grade classroom95,411 students and 5,208 teachers next year.with environmental resourcesMrs. Scherpe, 5th grade teacher,106,717 students and 4,977 teachersSteele Elementary school,with pollinator resources Galesburg, IL18 teachers were awarded pollinator book grants (over $9,000) and AITC worked with GROWMARK to award those schools with pollinator gardens (see Figure 6).In addition to curriculum, county AITC programs put a public face on monarchs through their participation in community parades and local festivals, such as the annual Monarch Migration Festival in Knox County. These programs also work with businesses and schools to set up pollinator gardens and Monarch Waystationssmall patches of habitat that monarchs can use during their migration. The success of educational efforts can be gauged by the increased number of registered Monarch Waystations in the 45-mile radius of Galesburg, IL. In February 2015, less than 50 Monarch Waystations were registered in the area. As of September 21, 2018, there were 213 Figure 6: Example AITC Book registered Monarch Waystations in the same area. Grant Purchase11'