Ag in the Classroom teacher named
MAYSVILLE — Born, raised and planted — that's how Christie Puckett describes her lifetime of living in Maysville.
“I have such a heart for the town I was born and raised in,” she said, “so it comes as no surprise that Maysville is where God planted me to teach for the last 34 years. It is primarily a farming town, and I love the sense of unity agriculture brings to our community.”
Puckett has taught at Maysville Public Schools her entire career. She also is the 2019 Oklahoma Agriculture in the Classroom Teacher of the Year, state agriculture officials have announced.
Puckett has incorporated agricultural lessons into her classes since the start of her career, she said.
“As a beginning teacher, I was always exploring new ways to cater to the needs of my students,” she said. “I first encountered Ag in the Classroom at a workshop held at the Garvin County Fairgrounds, and I have been hooked ever since. I soon became engulfed with a deep passion for teaching ag literacy.”
That passion, she continued, led her to become a 4-H leader and to always keep her students actively engaged and learning.
“The Little Red Hen is one of my very favorite lessons to teach,” Puckett said. “I have a personal life connection to the story because my mother always read it to us and taught us to live by the moral of the story.
“When I teach this lesson, I put emphasis on the growth of wheat from a seed to full growth, bringing examples for students to observe.”
Puckett has taught performing arts, kindergarten, first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth grades, as well as seventh- and eighth-grade English. She is teaching science in fourth, fifth and sixth grade now.
“Agriculture lessons are perfect to use in my science classroom,” she said. “They fit right in with the state standards that my students need to master. The curriculum covers a wide variety of skills and concepts through interactive activities such as plotting on maps, playing the Prey and Predator game, extracting DNA from a strawberry, and learning about iron in cereals.”
Outside of her own classroom, Puckett reads an agriculture-related book to elementary students the first Thursday of every month. Then, the students are treated to a visit at her science lab to see a related lesson.
The past few years, she also has worked with the local agriculture teacher, community members, former students and other guests to create an “Ag Day” at Maysville Elementary School.
Shelly HildebrandBeach, Maysville Public Schools' superintendent, applauds Puckett's efforts.
“This event exposes students to various agricultural-related activities, machinery, and livestock,” she said. “She included high school students in the presentations and all elementary students rotated through the stations. Each year focuses on different aspects of the agricultural field.”
Hildebrand-Beach said Puckett is the “ideal role model for all educators” and is “constantly striving to find interesting and motivating lessons.”
Cheri Long, an Oklahoma Agriculture in the Classroom coordinator, agreed. “Christie loves agriculture and sees the importance of educating her students about agriculture and their connection,” Long said.
“It is evident with the activities she provides for her students, like organizing the school's Ag Day event, reading an agriculture book to the students every month, and bringing kids into the lab to do agricultural activities.”
Puckett will be honored at the Capitol as part of the state's annual Oklahoma Ag Day celebration on April 2, along with other teachers and students from across the state who will be recognized as winners of the 2019 Agriculture in the Classroom “Oklahoma Ag Adventure” contest, officials said.