Agriculture Secretary Hance Reads to Cape St. Claire Elementary School Students

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance today read to all 100 first grade students at Cape St. Claire Elementary School in Anne Arundel County as part of “Read Across Maryland” Month and Ag Literacy Week (March 19-24).

A Calvert County farmer, Secretary Hance selected CORN, by Gail Gibbons, which explains the history of corn, how it grows and its many uses along with fun facts about this popular farm product. Secretary Hance also read Seed, Soil, Sun: Earth’s Recipe for Food, by Cris Peterson with beautiful, vibrant, close-up photographs by David Lundquist, to the first graders. The book explains how air and water combine with seed, soil, and sun to create nearly all the food we eat.

“I’m happy to be here today with the students from Cape St. Claire Elementary School and to share my passion for agriculture and the environment with them,” said Secretary Hance. “The ‘Read Across Maryland’ campaign encourages children to read and learn not just this month, but all year long. Working together with educators, our public libraries, and families across Maryland, we can prepare the future leaders of Maryland to live and learn with excitement. I encourage every family to take up Governor O’Malley’s challenge and read with their children for at least 30 minutes every day in March and to develop the habit of reading.”

Secretary Hance also led an interactive seed activity with the students. The students observed, classified and described the differences in various seeds such as corn, carrots, and lettuce and they also compared the seed to the food product. The activity coincides with the school’s Seeds Unit curriculum. The observations learned during today’s activity will be used in the coming weeks when the students germinate their own vegetable seeds and plant in the school’s garden, located at the Goshen Sharing Garden & Farm adjacent to the school.

“The first grade students and staff at Cape St. Claire were very excited to have Secretary Hance with us today to share his knowledge of farming and love of reading,” said Principal Lisa Leitholf, Cape St. Claire Elementary. “His message was a perfect fit with our science curriculum, Green School initiatives and our partnership with Goshen Farm. Students were having fun while learning and enjoyed making a real life connection with a farming expert.”

For the fifth year in a row, the O’Malley-Brown Administration is partnering with the Maryland State Education Association, the Maryland Library Association, and the Maryland Association of School Librarians to encourage educators, parents and children to read 30 minutes a day for 30 days as part of a “Read 30 for 30” theme. As part of the campaign, students throughout Maryland will be asked to read 30 minutes for 30 days in March. All participants will be entered into a drawing for a Kindle Fire or a $25 Amazon gift card. Winners will be announced in April. For more details.

This year also marks the third annual Ag Literacy Program, launched by the Maryland Agriculture Education Foundation to introduce students to the importance of agriculture in their daily lives. The campaign calls on representatives of Maryland’s agriculture industry to visit elementary school classrooms across the state, read a selected book and talk to students about the importance of agriculture in their lives. The selected book for 2013 is the CORN book Secretary Hance read to the first graders. The 2011 book was Seed, Soil, Sun: Earth’s Recipe for Food. For more about the Ag Literacy Program.

“Read Across Maryland” was inspired by the National Education Association’s “Read Across America” program, which encourages children across the country to celebrate reading on March 2, the birthday of children’s author Dr. Seuss. Throughout March, Maryland’s public school students have been treated to readings by community leaders, elected officials, published authors and educators to promote daily reading. For more details.

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To see photos.