When does art and organic food and farming intersect for the benefit of both? It happens through a unique collaboration between the art department at Churchville-Chili High School and the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY) in Farmington.
For five years, art students at Churchville-Chili High School have been designing posters and banners for NOFA-NY’s Organic Dairy & Field Crop Conference held each March in Syracuse. The partnership originated with science teacher Linda Judd and art teacher Jane Betrus. Betrus now oversees the program with art teacher Jonathan Woodard.
Approximately 100 students in their four Media Arts classes get a hands-on, professional design experience. Students have the option of signing up to receive dual credit through Monroe Community College.
Utilizing information provided by Bethany Wallis, NOFA-NY Education Team Director, the teachers act as professional agency directors with NOFA-NY as their “client.” Students are assigned various topics using the conference brochure as the foundation. “We essentially are acting as a professional design firm,” said Woodard. “Using advanced graphic design, our students get a taste of real-life experience.”
“Churchville-Chili is an agricultural community,” explained Betrus, “so many of our students are familiar with farming from a certain perspective. Now they’re also understanding it from a business and science perspective.”
After receiving their workshop subjects, students spent time researching the topics and the appropriate images to use. Among the 11 different workshops, plus a keynote speech, include: Managing Nutrition for Plant Health and Yield, A Different Perspective on Agriculture, Dairy Pasture Nutrition, Cow Comfort, and Protecting Emergent Small Grain Markets from Stealthy Pathogens.
“Working with these students has been a great opportunity for NOFA-NY to showcase the many aspects of agriculture,” said Wallis. “Not only are they learning something about the continuing education that farmers seek, they are also learning about alternative agricultural careers.”
She points out that the field of agriculture isn’t strictly farming. “There are so many jobs within the industry that support those farms; this project exposes students to the many companies that support our programming as well.
This year’s conference takes place on Wednesday, March 16 at the Holiday Inn in Liverpool, New York. The conference provides opportunities for learning, networking and information exchange, including a trade show. For more information, visit www.nofany.org.
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