Classroom-based

Since 1995, the Progressive Agriculture Foundation (PAF) has provided education, training, and resources to make farm, ranch, and rural life safer and healthier for all children and their communities through its Progressive Agriculture Safety Day (PAF Safety Day) program. With a reach of more than 1.8 million individuals, the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day program is recognized as the largest safety and health educational program for children in North America.

Now nearly 30 years later, PAF continues to explore new, innovative ways to continue the mission and reach more children. Continuing with the same effective formula of hands-on, age-appropriate safety and health curriculum, the Classroom-based delivery mode allows communities with limited resources or barriers an opportunity to educate students without them ever having to leave the classroom. Instead of a one-day experience outside of the classroom, students can explore different topics over several days, weeks, or months at the comfort of their desk.

Yes, Progressive Agriculture Safety Day (PAF Safety Day) Coordinators are required to complete an online, at-your-own-pace training course annually. The training for the PAF Safety Day Coordinators offering the program through the Classroom-based delivery mode will differ slightly from the training for PAF Safety Day Coordinators offering the program through the Community-based and School-based delivery modes.

A Progressive Agriculture Safety Day (PAF Safety Day) Coordinator is a volunteer serving as the main point of contact and link between the PAF Safety Day program and the local community, school, or classroom. A lead PAF Safety Day Coordinator, and up to one PAF Safety Day Assistant Coordinator, is trained annually.

For the Community-based or School-based delivery modes, the PAF Safety Day Coordinator is responsible for the planning and implementation of the PAF Safety Day from locating a facility, creating schedules, and gathering volunteers, to ordering supplies, enforcing safety requirements, and reporting.

For the Classroom-based delivery mode, the PAF Safety Day Coordinator is responsible for communicating and setting up classroom visits with the school, preparing and offering lessons, conducting evaluations, and reporting.

Following completion of training, Progressive Agriculture Safety Day (PAF Safety Day) Coordinators utilizing the Classroom-based delivery mode will be granted access to various online toolkits including: a curriculum toolkit; marketing and communications toolkit; evaluation and reporting toolkit; and a support toolkit. The toolkits will contain various resources including templates of communication resources for schools, how-to videos, evaluation tools, and answers to other frequently asked questions.

Upon selection of the desired safety and health topics and the identification of class size, PAF Safety Day Coordinators will receive a hands-on, durable resource kit by mail. The resource kit will include props for demonstrations and supplies for hands-on activities to aid in the classroom instruction. Each resource kit will also include participation certificates, a classroom poster, and more.

An annual program fee of $75 will be collected following enrollment and prior to beginning the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day Coordinator training. The financial support of the Progressive Agriculture Foundation partners allows for fee to be very minimal.

Yes, the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day Coordinator can customize the student’s classroom experience by selecting from 10 different topic areas. The current topic areas include All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV)/Utility Task Vehicle (UTV) safety, chemical safety, disability awareness, fire safety, mental well- being and stress management, “See and Be Seen” (reflectivity and blind spots), sun safety, underground utilities, water safety, and weather safety.

The peer-reviewed, safety and health curriculum is designed to reach elementary school-aged children in grades kindergarten through sixth grade. Peer-to-peer opportunities are available for middle school and high school aged youth where teens can help deliver the program.

Yes! A current Progressive Agriculture Safety Day (PAF Safety Day) Coordinator can continue offering the PAF Safety Day program through the Community-based or School-based delivery modes, as well as offer the Classroom-based delivery mode for a different grade or at another school.

Yes! A Progressive Agriculture Safety Day (PAF Safety Day) Coordinator should keep in mind that the training, range of topics, reporting, and other components differ among the delivery modes. A PAF Safety Day Coordinator should review the differences when deciding on which delivery mode best meets their needs and the needs of the school or community. Please contact Jana Davidson, program manager, by emailing jdavidson@progressiveag.org to discuss options or switch a Community-based or School- based delivery mode to a Classroom-based delivery mode.

Yes! The Classroom-based delivery mode for the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day program was designed with educational standards and core competencies adopted by schools throughout the United States and Canada in mind. Additionally, nearly all the lessons have an emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education. Furthermore, the evaluation tools complement each topic area to help identify knowledge gained and safety and health practices that have been adopted by the participants.

The time commitment may vary depending on how many volunteers will be helping to facilitate the program, the number of classes or grades intended to reach, etc. A Progressive Agriculture Safety Day Coordinator selecting the Classroom-based delivery mode should anticipate spending 10 to 15 hours per classroom. Time will be spent completing training; reviewing toolkits; communicating and scheduling with local schools; preparing for and conducting classroom visits; conducting student pre and post surveys; compiling survey data; and submitting evaluations and final reports.

The Classroom-based delivery mode will align with the typical academic calendar, running from late- summer through late-spring. The Progressive Agriculture Safety Day Coordinator will work with the school to determine the duration of the program and how often it will be delivered (weekly, monthly, etc.).

Anyone interested in participating in the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day program’s Classroom-based, Community-based, or School-based delivery modes should visit the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day program website (www.progressiveag.org) and complete a brief, online interest form. Following the submission of the interest form, a member of the Progressive Agriculture Foundation staff will follow-up with next steps.