Standing left to right: Roxanne Fuller, Buchanan County Extension and Outreach Executive Director; Craig Johnson, Heartland Acres - Executive Director; Leann Harrison, President - Buchanan County Historical Society. Seated left to right: Alexia Hamlett, Buchanan County Extension 4-HYouth Coordinator; Rachael Emig, Independence FFA - Advisor
Representatives from Buchanan County ISU Extension and Outreach, Independence FFA, Buchanan County Historical Society and Heartland Acres met at the Heartland Acres museum to discuss ways to build programs and activities with local youth. The opportunity to talk about this developed from a recent visit by representatives from Omega Institute in Austin, Texas.
The meeting brought out several ideas of how the Heartland Acres campus could best serve educators and students in the learning process by using existing museum displays and exhibits as a way to gain knowledge in a hands-on environment. The museum has several established educational exhibits which visitors use to learn about agricultural innovation. To build on current themes and utilize a broader base of knowledge and learning disciplines, the group hopes to include educators and students in developing additional learning tools which can be incorporated into existing and future displays at the museum. “Working to learn and learning to work is a very important step in the education process and is exactly what we hope to accomplish with our partners for the benefit of our visitors”, commented Craig Johnson, Executive Director.
The planning meeting also inspired the group to identify three basic goals of using Heartland Acres as a learning laboratory for students and visitors:
1) Build domestic and international business knowledge with an agricultural emphasis
2) Develop entrepreneurial challenges
3) Facilitate educational growth.
These goals are in the beginning stages of a working and ongoing process to help students and visitors to Heartland Acres get the most from their learning experience.
For more information about Heartland Acres please call (319) 332.0123 or find us on Facebook.
