When our partners support agricultural literacy, they help create opportunities for educators to learn about agriculture firsthand and bring those experiences back to their students.
This summer, Growing Minds Conference sponsors helped make the first-ever Growing Minds Conference possible for K-12 educators from Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Hosted July 27-28 at St. Paul College by the Minnesota and Wisconsin Agriculture in the Classroom programs, the two-day conference gave educators the opportunity to learn alongside one another through agricultural site tours, breakout sessions, mini sessions and hands-on activities.
Giving Educators the Opportunity to Experience Agriculture
The Growing Minds Conference was designed to give educators opportunities to experience agriculture beyond the classroom and connect those experiences directly to student learning.
On the first day, educators chose from five agriculture site tours, offering firsthand looks at the people, places and systems that make agriculture possible. Participants explored seed research and crop science at Syngenta’s Seedcare Institute, beef production and regenerative agriculture at Cannon Valley Ranch, dairy processing and berry farming in Wisconsin, Indigenous agriculture and land stewardship through the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, and plant production, food systems, culture and entrepreneurship at sites including Gertens and HmongTown Marketplace.
Rather than learning about these topics solely through a presentation or resource, educators had the opportunity to visit agricultural operations and community organizations, ask questions and see these concepts in practice.
Sponsor support helped make these site visits, along with the conference’s breakout sessions, mini sessions and hands-on activities, possible.
Thank You to Our Conference Sponsors
We are grateful to the Growing Minds Conference sponsors who invested in this new professional development opportunity.
Committed Education Partners | $10,000+ Sponsors
Committed Education Partners | $5,000 Sponsors
Minnesota Corn Growers Association
Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board
Committed Classroom Champion | $2,000 Sponsor
Northarvest Bean Growers Association
Committed Snack Sponsor
Their support showed up in several ways throughout the conference.
Natural Resources Conservation Service staff helped collect soil samples from locations across Minnesota and Wisconsin for hands-on soil kits educators received at the conference. Compeer Financial employees also volunteered their time earlier in the summer to help pack more than 100 of those kits.
Educators went home with real soil samples, lesson plans and books they can use to continue the learning with their students.
Supporting Educators Means Reaching Students
Professional development is an investment in educators, but its impact continues in their classrooms.
By supporting the conference, Growing Minds Conference sponsors helped educators strengthen their understanding of agriculture and gather new ideas for connecting agriculture with science, social studies, STEM, food systems, careers, culture and more.
That is an important part of the Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation's work. Through support from investors and partners, we can help provide the experiences, resources and connections educators need to increase agricultural literacy and move toward a future where agriculture is valued by all.
Thank You
To our Growing Minds Conference sponsors, thank you for believing in the value of agricultural literacy and investing in the educators who bring it to students.
We are grateful for the role you played in making the first Growing Minds Conference possible and for your continued partnership in agricultural education.
The Growing Minds Conference will return in 2028, but the ideas and resources educators took home this summer are already making their way into classrooms.
Learn more about the organizations that supported the 2026 Growing Minds Conference.
https://maitcfoundation.org/2026-growing-minds-conference-sponsors/
Interested in helping create more opportunities for educators and students? Learn how you can support the Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation.
