Michelle Wiseman of Albion was recognized as the State Winner in the National Association of Agriculture Educators (NAAE) Ideas Unlimited category during the 2025 Illinois Association of Vocational Agriculture Teachers (IAVAT) Conference held last week.
Wiseman, an agriculture teacher at Edwards County High School, earned the award for her innovative Farm to Fork lesson series — a collaborative effort designed to help students understand the journey of food from production to plate. The idea grew out of a discussion with Family & Consumer Sciences teacher Rachel Rodgers about students’ limited awareness of agriculture, despite living in a rural area.
“Many of our students have never been to a farm,” Wiseman noted, “and they lacked basic knowledge of where their food comes from. This project aimed to change that.”
Launched in 2023, the Farm to Fork unit was implemented in both Agribusiness Management and Foods & Nutrition III courses. Students studied the beef and pork industries, then worked in teams to create marketing plans for a specific cut of meat to be featured in a food truck or pop-up business. Each team developed a printed presentation and took part in an all-day field trip around Edwards County, visiting:
Country Home Processing – a local meat-packing facility
Cloverdale Farms – a Black Angus cattle operation
The Smokin’ Pig – a restaurant that evolved from a food truck and partners with local meat producers
Stumpy Hill Farms – a hog farm specializing in Yorkshire pigs
The project culminated in a Marketing Presentation and Cooking Day, where students prepared sample menu items and pitched their marketing concepts to a panel of local agriculture and culinary judges. The winning group received a coveted “A+” on an assignment and a $10 gift card per team member.
The hands-on experience fostered teamwork, creativity, and real-world application of both agricultural science and culinary arts — aligning with career readiness goals.
Wiseman’s award-winning application now advances to the national level of competition, with winners to be announced in December.
Michelle Wiseman, who lives near Albion with her husband Eric and their young adult children Emma and Jake, has been teaching agriculture at Edwards County High School for twelve years.
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