Kansas Corn STEM Takes Part in Wichita Public Schools Virtual Field Trip

Blog post by Emily Keiser, Communications Specialist

Students across Kansas took a trip to the field through the Wichita Public Schools Fall Virtual Field Trip Festival Edventure. The event provided online learning experiences for PK-12 students with remote speakers taking classes on educational fall-themed field trips without leaving the classroom. The event was hosted by Wichita Public Schools and was available for classrooms around the state. Kansas Corn Director of Education, Sharon Thielen gave two presentations about fall corn harvest, how corn is used and careers in corn.

The event was a huge success with over 1,138 participants throughout the day, made up mostly of l teachers who projected the presentation for their classroom. Over 70 school classrooms watched Kansas Corn’s elementary session. The feedback from classrooms was overwhelming with over 1,100 questions, comments and posts throughout the day. The event reached schools throughout the Wichita school district as well as other Kansas schools and reaching as far as Omaha, Neb.  Kansas Corn STEM also provided its educational book, “We Grow Corn—Raising Corn on a Kansas Family Farm”, to over 1200 Wichita elementary teachers leading up to the Edventure.

“The learning opportunities provided by Kansas Corn at our Fall Festival EdVenture were well designed and engaging. The lessons and resources fostered opportunities for students to understand the science, technology, skills, and careers involved in producing and harvesting corn. Besides supporting standards in education, these sessions gave students an opportunity to see the tradition of farming and how it impacts their daily lives,” Amy Hayes, Elementary Science and Social Studies Curriculum Specialist at Wichita Public Schools said.

The Wichita School District partners with Kansas Corn STEM to incorporate its lessons into their second and fifth and grade curriculum throughout the district.

If you and your classroom were unable to join for the field trip, all the sessions were recorded and are available for viewing. Click this link and follow the instructions at the top of the page to take part in the Edventure: https://bit.ly/2U3458V.

Kansas Corn STEM is the education program of the Kansas Corn Commission, providing science-based K-12 lessons, materials and professional development opportunities to Kansas teachers and schools.