CCHS ag instructor receives 2 state awards

Churchill County High School Agriscience teacher Kristina Moore recently won two major awards: The 2014 Nevada Agriscience Teacher of the Year and the Nevada Ag in the Classroom Volunteer of the Year.

The native Nevadan said she was honored to have received the awards.

“Receiving the rewards shows that I have a good record with my classroom, community service and with the FFA teams,” Moore said. “It means I have a well-rounded and grounded program, and people notice that.”

Nevada Agriculture Foundation’s Executive Director Sue Hoffman had nothing but great things to say about Moore.

“Each year as part of the Nevada Agricultural Foundation’s Excellence in Education Program, we honor an agriculture in the classroom volunteer who is dedicated to educating Nevada youth about agriculture,” she said. “Kristina has done an outstanding job of educating students about agriculture in her own classes and teaching elementary students through innovative ag in the classroom projects.”

In her seven years of teaching at CCHS, Moore has increased the involvement of her FFA students in agriculture education, Hoffman said. This past year she coordinated a project in which her students read agriculture books to all 14 second-grade classrooms in Churchill County and presented each school with a book barn to hold agriculture literature. Moore received an award and a $1,000 stipend to be used for her Ag in the Classroom program.

According to the National Association of Agricultural Educators, the Agriscience Teacher of the Year award recognizes teachers who bring science to life for students by emphasizing the hands-on application of science concepts in their agriculture classrooms. Award winners are also leaders in community, agriculture/agribusiness and professional activities.

The high schools agriscience program currently has 122 students with 60 active FFA members. She said all students in ag are required to participate in one activity.

Moore said there are three different agriscience classes students can take at the high school. She said all students are required to take a basic ag class and then can break off into the specific programs — veterinarians science, horticulture/plant science, and natural resource management.

“We have several students that compete on teams within FFA,” Moore said. “The students also build a lot of things that we need when it comes to farming, they have built green houses so we can grow things in the winter. The students learn a lot during the classes and their in class learning actual helps them to gain experience.”

Moore did receive grant money with both awards, and she plan on using the money for new equipment and materials for her classes.

Moore has been a teacher for 17 years, 10 years at Douglas High School and seven at CCHS. She graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno, with a bachelor’s degree in science and has a master’s degree from California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) at San Luis Obispo.