Melissa Wilson: Answering Her Call To Agriculture Education

Melissa Wilson’s thumbs feverishly fly across her phone’s keyboard answering one last text from the seat of her car outside a rural elementary school, while emails chime in her inbox. Her messages support the relationships that make Missouri Farmers Care Agriculture Education on the Move™ (Ag Moves) successful across Southwest Missouri. Melissa feels the sunshine inside and out as she strides to the building. As she pulls open the door, a sense of home welcomes her. “Yes. This is where I am supposed to be,” she thinks to herself. Melissa believes that educating youth is a calling and she has answered her call to share agriculture with Missouri elementary students through Ag Moves for the past eight years.

Ag Moves Answers the Call

Melissa serves as the Southwest Regional Lead for Ag Moves. She organizes connections and builds relationships that become fertile soil supporting the Ag Moves program as it takes root in Missouri elementary schools. Ag Moves      is a series of ten, STEM-focused, hands-on lessons that guide Missouri elementary students in exploring crops, livestock, soil and water conservation, nutrition, and careers in agriculture. The lessons align with Missouri state learning objectives in science, math, social studies, and language arts. The curriculum is delivered by passionate educators who show students how agriculture is entwined in their daily lives and share about the daily dedication of farmers and ranchers.

Returning Home to Agriculture and Education

Melissa is no stranger to the classroom. Her passion for education sprouted as she grew up on a small family dairy farm in northern Greene County. She utilized her master’s degree in education to teach Parents As Teachers, second grade and kindergarten in the Willard community. The Ag Moves program tugged at her love of agriculture and fanned her passion for education. When Melissa joined the program as an educator, she knew just what to do: return “home” to the Willard school district where she was warmly welcomed to begin teaching Ag Moves in third grade classrooms.

Meeting Curriculum Standards

Over the past eight years, Melissa has been an integral part of the Ag Moves team as it has grown exponentially. Her extensive background in curriculum development allowed her to play a vital role in designing the Ag Moves curriculum to align with Missouri state education standards. “The Ag Moves curriculum is solid,” Melissa shares. “Teachers anxiously welcome it into their classrooms because we can prove that it is helping them to cover core standard requirements.” Melissa advocates to administrators to share the value and relevance of Ag Moves.

Mentoring FFA

As demand for the successful Ag Moves program grew over the first few years, a strategic partnership to reach more classrooms than ever was formed. Today, Ag Moves partners with Missouri FFA to offer high school FFA members the opportunity to become partner educators.  “Kids love to learn from kids. FFA members make a difference in the learning experience for younger students,” Melissa said. “FFA members build camaraderie, perform community service, or apply their teaching time to A+ Scholarships or Supervised Agriculture Experience (SAE) projects. Most importantly, it helps them to think along career lines for the future.”      

Melissa’s classroom experience makes her an excellent mentor for the FFA partner educators that she organizes as the Southwest Regional Lead. When FFA members enroll to become partner educators, Melissa reaches out to welcome them and let them know what to expect. Once they begin implementation, she visits them to observe their teaching and guide their growth. Melissa loves meeting FFA members across the region.

Going The ‘Extra Mile’

When Melissa began working with Ag Moves, fewer supplies were needed to provide students with hands-on lessons. Supply boxes were hand-packed out of a ‘tote and table’ system. “Occasionally I had to personally deliver supplies to FFA chapters who needed to begin Ag Moves ‘that day’ and hadn’t received their shipment. I was literally going the ‘extra mile’!” Melissa laughs. “Now we have a great system, and our Ag Moves supplies are delivered in beautifully branded boxes that excite FFA members and advisors when they arrive.”

Ag Moves Director, Heather Fletcher, encapsulated Melissa’s contributions. “Melissa has been an integral part of the success of Ag Moves over the past eight years.  The countless hours spent prepping supplies, engaging students in the classroom, corresponding with partners, and visiting FFA chapters have not only fueled the growth of Ag Moves in Southwest Missouri, but continuously engages new supporters of the program.  Her passion for agriculture education is evident in everything she does and she is an inspiration for the entire Ag Moves team,” Heather shared.

Engaging Students’ 5 Senses

Melissa’s background and connections with local farmers make it possible for her to provide visual examples for her Ag Moves lessons. “I want to engage each of the students’ five senses with each lesson if I can,” Melissa said. “I have used a milking machine claw, a cow’s ear tag, corn stalks and others to show the kids even more about agriculture. I am often referred to as ‘the agriculture lady’. I made the news the day I brought a chicken to school!” Most of all, Melissa loves the feeling of being at “home” in schools teaching agriculture literacy.

“After growing up on the farm, I understood how hard local farmers worked to provide food for our country. As a professional in education, I saw people beginning to disconnect from their food,” Melissa recalls. “I began teaching Ag Moves eight years ago. My first Ag Moves students are now old enough to get involved in agricultural education at the high school level. I’m interested to see if high school education programs experience growth because of the efforts of Ag Moves.”

The Success of Ag Moves

Melissa’s current goal for the program is to help drive the expansion of Ag Moves collegiate internships in Southwest Missouri. Thanks to the dedication and drive professional educators including Melissa, collegiate interns, and 836 FFA partner educators, Ag Moves has engaged over 12,000 third-grade students in 2024. The Missouri Farmers Care Foundation, which hosts Ag Moves, supplies curriculum, materials, and trained educators at no cost to participating schools. A list of elementary schools receiving Ag Moves programming this semester can be found here.

Ag Moves is funded by Missouri Farmers Care, a coalition of over 40 agriculture groups in Missouri. Support comes from Missouri soybean farmers and their checkoff, as well as the MFA Oil Foundation, FCS Financial, MFA Incorporated, Missouri Corn Merchandising Council, the Missouri Beef Industry Council, and the Missouri Fertilizer Control Board. To learn more or to become a partner, visit www.agmoves.com.