2023-2024 John Maitland Agriculture Awareness Grant
The registration period has ended.
University of Illinois Extension McLean County is encouraging our McLean County educators of Kindergarten to 12th grade to participate in a grant opportunity designed to increase student awareness and understanding of agriculture as it plays a large role in our lives and in the economy every day.
Since 2002, University of Illinois Extension and the family of retired Illinois Senator John Maitland will sponsor a grant in his honor. Senator Maitland was a McLean County farmer and understood the importance of educating youth on agriculture and its impact locally, nationally and globally. The family of Senator John Maitland continues to take a personal and vested interest in providing an opportunity for teachers to purchase supplies and other resources that integrate agriculture-related lessons in their curriculum to provide youth with creative and hands-on learning experiences promoting agriculture.
The application for the Maitland Agricultural Awareness Grant is easy to complete, teacher-friendly and can yield up to $1,000 for a teacher’s agriculture-related lesson. Online applications for the Maitland grant are due by 11:59 p.m. Sunday, October 15th, 2023. Please note that this grant is given as a reimbursement of the funds approved in the grant proposal. Reimbursement will be sent based on submitted receipts of purchases for those approved supplies or resources.
Applications close at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, October 15th, 2023. Grant recipients will be announced Monday, October 30th, 2023 and recognized at the McLean County Chamber of Commerce Ag Breakfast that will take place in March 2024. Details for the breakfast will be sent to grant recipients in January.