2002 News Archive
New Kit Encourages Students to
DENVER (November 25, 2002) – Fourth and fifth grade students are being encouraged to celebrate their cultural heritage and country in a new teacher’s kit being distributed through the beef checkoff. The kit was produced for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and state beef councils by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).
“Celebrate America” is a social studies program that also incorporates lessons in language arts, art, mathematics and nutrition. It was developed and designed by educators with input from industry advisors representing NCBA and state beef councils.
In the kit, a discussion of food provides a vehicle for teaching students about the many different cultures in America. Each student is given the chance to explore the foods and traditions of their own individual cultural backgrounds, as well as gather information about how and when their families came to America.
Beef recipes play a key role in the kit as the popularity of beef dishes from England, Turkey, Japan and Mexico are showcased in the video and discussed in the leader guide. Step-by step instructions for teaching students how to host their own cultural feasts are provided, and the guide features activities that will help students investigate the cultural backgrounds of their families, classroom, school community and states. Nutrition tips and the importance of a balanced diet following the Food Guide Pyramid are also included in several activities.
In addition to the teacher’s guide and a copy of a Food Guide Pyramid poster, the program includes a video called “Lost in the Statue of Liberty,” in which students are introduced to American children whose families come from different parts of the world. The entire program is designed to be used as a unit, although individual activities can stand alone and be used as the teacher sees fit.
“This kit is a tool that’s a benefit to instructors, students and beef producers,” says Gary Sharp, a South Dakota beef producer and chairman of the industry’s Joint Youth Education and Information Subcommittee. “Teachers have come to expect well-researched, useful and educational materials from the beef industry, and this checkoff-funded ‘Celebrate America’ kit certainly delivers.”
More than 9,000 kits are being sent to new and first year fourth and fifth grade teachers through state beef councils across the country. The kit was also promoted at the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference in Phoenix Nov. 22 to 25. Free kits were offered to the fourth and fifth grade teachers among the nearly 6,000 people at the event.
State beef councils will participate in subsequent distribution of the kit. Thirty-seven beef councils are participating in the initial customized distribution of “Celebrate America.”
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Beef industry nutrition education efforts are funded, in part, by beef producers through the $1-per-head checkoff. These kinds of programs at the national level are managed for the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board and state beef councils by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), subject to USDA approval. The Cattlemen’s Beef Board is a 110-member board appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture to oversee the collection of the $1-per-head checkoff, certify state beef councils, implement the provisions of the federal order establishing the checkoff and evaluate the effectiveness of checkoff programs.