‘Legacy’ is defined as ‘the long-lasting impact of particular events, actions, etc.…of a person’s life.1’ Natalie Koch is building a legacy as the agricultural education instructor and FFA advisor for the Steelville FFA Chapter in #Agri-Ready Designated Crawford County. During her Ag Moves collegiate internship, she solidified her career aspirations and identified her professional passion. Today, she enthusiastically shares Missouri Farmers Care’s Agriculture Education on the Move™ (Ag Moves) program with her high school students, Steelville Elementary students, the community of Steelville, and beyond. Natalie is building an Ag Moves legacy by encouraging and facilitating her own students to be a part of the next generation of Ag Moves FFA member educators.

Natalie was a member of the Belle FFA Chapter in #Agri-Ready Designated Maries County and she served as vice-president on the 2019-20 Missouri FFA officer team, two experiences that encouraged her to attend FFA Camp where she was first introduced to Ag Moves when she participated in the dairy lesson. Camp is also where she learned how Ag Moves brings passionate educators into Missouri classrooms to build agricultural literacy at elementary ages. In 2021, she was compelled to tag along with a friend who was teaching Ag Moves during a Columbia afterschool program.

“I loved the lessons. I loved the young kids,” Natalie remembered. “When I was little, I thought I wanted to be a nurse. Just a few nursing experiences revealed that what I really wanted to do was help people. I didn’t think I wanted to be a teacher, but an ‘a-ha’ moment made me consider that teaching might fulfill my passion. And then as I watched Ag Moves in action, it clicked, and I fully opened the door to becoming a teacher.”

Natalie was hooked on the model and concepts of Ag Moves and became the program’s summer intern in 2022. Throughout that summer, Natalie taught the ten lesson, hands-on, STEM-focused, Ag Moves curriculum covering crops, livestock, soil and water conservation, nutrition, and careers in agriculture to third grade summer school students in Columbia Public Schools (CPS). “It was so valuable to have the opportunity to teach agriculture to CPS students. I loved watching when the kids would realize that chocolate milk doesn’t come from brown cows,” Natalie shared. “Elementary students are less likely to think about yesterday or later, they can focus on what we put in front of them and when we teach them about agriculture at a young age, the information sticks.”

Through her internship, Natalie returned to FFA Camp where her Ag Moves journey had begun, to share Ag Moves. She was excited to see high schoolers become engaged with hands-on agriculture lessons. That fall, she and a team of MU students majoring in Ag Education trained FFA students and their advisors from across Missouri to implement the program during training held at the University of Missouri.

As an intern, Natalie recognized the proactive power of Ag Moves, the only known program of its kind. After graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia, Natalie shared her Ag Moves experience as she interviewed for her first agricultural education position. The seed she planted during that interview bore fruit this past summer as she facilitated five Steelville FFA students delivering Ag Moves curriculum during Steelville’s summer school program. The FFA students earned half of an elective high school credit for their efforts. “As my students taught Ag Moves, they learned how much elementary kids are like sponges and how much the kids can remember,” said Natalie. “My students did the teaching themselves as I watched and captured pictures. They made a difference. They grew a lot!”

Natalie received positive feedback from Steelville Elementary parents and teachers about the program and her students’ efforts. She will be taking four FFA student partner educators to Ag Moves training this fall and those students already have plans to keep building the legacy of Ag Moves at Steelville by teaching the program to their FFA peers so that their chapter is able to reach more elementary students in their community. “I believe it is one of the very best programs available in our state,” Natalie emphasized.

Looking ahead, Natalie plans to pursue a master’s degree in youth development while leading the Steeleville FFA chapter. Natalie is a member of the Missouri Vocational Agriculture Teachers Association (MVATA), a partner of Missouri Farmers Care. Her long-term goal is to promote and facilitate agriculture curriculum to more teachers and students at the elementary level. She wants all elementary teachers to feel comfortable connecting the last dot of each lesson back to food, fuel and fiber so our next generation can be more agriculture literate.

All Missouri FFA chapters are encouraged to become Ag Moves partners. Begin your chapter’s registration process at www.agmoves.com/contact. Ag Moves will be hosting four opportunities for FFA partner educators to train in the Ag Moves curriculum and prepare for their time in the classroom. These training events will be held at University of Missouri-Columbia, Northwest Missouri University, Ozarks Technical Community College, and the MU Extension office at Jackson. Training space is limited so register your chapter here soon.

Ag Moves engaged over 10,000 students across Missouri with in-classroom lessons in 2023. Ag Moves is funded through Missouri Farmers Care, a coalition of more than 40 Missouri agriculture groups. Missouri soybean farmers and their checkoff and the MFA Oil Foundation support the program, along with contributions from Missouri Corn Merchandising Council, FCS Financial, MFA Incorporated, Missouri Beef Industry Council and the Missouri Fertilizer Control Board. To become a supporter the program visit www.agmoves.com.