April 30, 2024

Teachers, parents, students and local experts met on Thursday, April 25, to begin planning what the student learning experience will look like at the future Lindbergh Farmers Club. The Farmers Club will be a PK-12 agricultural STEM learning center, and is being made possible by community support of Prop R, a $150 million, no-tax-rate increase bond issue that was approved by more than 70% of voters in April 2024.

Lindbergh STEM Coordinator Doug Barton opened the meeting by introducing the Farmers Club vision, which is “To empower students through sustainable agriculture, environmental stewardship, and community connections.”

Committee members then gathered in small groups to focus on topics including agriculture and animals, ag tech, sustainability, entrepreneurship and humanities. These groups listened to presentations by experts in the field from organizations including Earthways Center, Springfield Public Schools, Tucson Village Farm, BASF and Grant’s Farm.

During each presentation, committee members took notes about potential student learning experiences and necessary resources to support potential programs. These groups then spent the afternoon identifying grade-level curricular connections to begin work aligning experiences with Missouri Learning Standards.

The Farmers Club will meet again this summer to continue its work.