Attention Educators: Read Below to Find Out How You Can Bring the SCFB Agricultural Kiosk to Your School
The Summit County Farm Bureau (SCFB) has a long history of supporting agricultural education in our area.
The SCFB Scholarship Program, the Ag Mobile, the Farmer’s Share Breakfast, the SCFB Farm Antiques Museum, and an ongoing series of educational seminars are just a few ways the SCFB supports agricultural education in our community.
This summer, the SCFB will roll out its latest educational initiative at the Akron Zoo: an interactive, touch-screen kiosk, complete with 12 different educational games designed to help students better understand where their food comes from and how it is harvested.
History of the SCFB Agricultural Kiosk
After reading an article titled “Idaho’s Ada County Farm Bureau Sponsors Zoo Exhibit” in the American Farm Bureau News last October, SCFB Secretary/Treasurer and retired school teacher Donna Cecil had an idea. She thought perhaps the concepts outlined in this article could be adapted and brought to the Akron Zoo.
“I had taken my class to the Akron Zoo every spring for all 29 years of teaching and have seen the Akron Zoo grow into a wonderful local resource. It is chalk full of great information and teaches kids in a very interactive and fun way,” she says.
After presenting her ideas to the SCFB board in November, Donna was given the green light to gather more information. She then reached out to the special events coordinator at the Akron Zoo, who was very receptive to working with the SCFB on this project. She also contacted the Ada County Farm Bureau in Idaho for more information regarding their local zoo initiative.
Since the Akron Zoo already has a full barnyard exhibit, Donna decided to focus strictly on developing the kiosk portion of the Boise program. So, Donna and fellow SCFB board member Nancy Roesner contacted potential vendors to obtain estimates before submitting a final proposal to the board.
Ultimately, the board decided to hire KIOSK Information Systems to build the kiosk, Tom Clapper of Clapper Cabinetry to build a barn facade around it, and ALD Decal to design and create signage for it.
About the SCFB Agricultural Kiosk
The SCFB Agricultural Kiosk is an offline, touch screen version of the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture’s My American Farm game.
The kiosk is similar to the popular Red Box video rental kiosks found outside many grocery stores. A custom-built barn facade will house the kiosk, along with a fan to keep it cool during the warm summer months. Compact and relatively light-weight, the kiosk is easily portable with a refrigerator dolly.
As noted above, the kiosk features 12 interactive games which allows students to touch, drag and drop various items around the screen. For example, one of the games is called Let’s Make Something Tasty and asks students to select the ingredients needed to make an apple pie.
The goal of the kiosk is to educate a population that is becoming more and more removed from how its food is produced. This high-tech, interactive and hands-on approach is designed specifically to appeal to school-age children. It grabs their attention, increases retention and makes learning about agricultural topics fun.
As a retired school teacher, Donna adds, “I knew the kids would love something like this.”
Where to Find the SCFB Agricultural Kiosk
The SCFB Agricultural Kiosk will be placed in the barnyard exhibit at the Akron Zoological Park throughout this summer. In September, it will be moved to the Copley Feed & Supply and then to The Winery at Wolf Creek.
From October through May, the SCFB Agricultural Kiosk is available for placement in the library/media room of interested middle schools in Summit County. Interested schools should contact the Summit County Farm Bureau office to reserve the kiosk for one of the eight months.
The kiosk will return to its summer home at the Akron Zoo in June 2012.