Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month (CALM)
Mois de la littératie agricole canadienne (MLAC)
CALM is a hands-on program that brings agriculture into classrooms and encourages students to learn about and celebrate Canadian agriculture. Many students don’t fully understand what agriculture is. By telling students why you love Canadian agriculture and giving them a glimpse of what you do, you will open their eyes to new knowledge, help them build a stronger appreciation for the food they eat, and for the role agriculture plays in their lives.
All teachers will be provided with a hands-on agriculture activity and an agriculture themed book in addition to a classroom visit from you – our volunteers!
Every year, we need a team of over 150 volunteers to meet the demand for CALM. If you are passionate about sharing your story and want to present to students in the classroom, we will take as many presentations as you're willing to offer. French AND English speaking volunteers needed!
*Note: all volunteers will require their own method of transportation to and from their classroom visits.
Who: Grades 2, 3 and 4 students
Date: March 2026
Where: Manitoba classrooms
Time: 60 minutes
How: We match you with a teacher and you arrange a date and time with your teacher in March for your presentation
REGISTRATION IS OPEN
Presentation Details/Things to think about:
- We will provide training to provide you with ideas and tips on how you can put together an engaging presentation. As a CALM volunteer, you will still share YOUR story!
- Think about what you want to share about what you do in agriculture. How can you tell your story in a fun and engaging way to students? Think pictures, props, interesting stories… you could even make a video from your farm or workplace to show students!
- We provide a classroom activity kit to every participating volunteer - we even provide volunteer training so you feel comfortable leading the activity! *Even if you choose to do your own activity, you will bring the classroom activity kit with you to leave behind with the teacher.
The 2026 CALM classroom activity, "Commodity Match-Up - Livestock Edition" (EN/FR), will get students thinking about all the other everyday products we get from livestock, in addition to the food they provide.
Students can probably name most of them, but may not know that there are a lot of other things we can make using the parts of the animals that we don’t eat. The parts of the animal that we don’t eat are called by-products, and instead of throwing them away, they get used as ingredients to produce some other item that we commonly use. The variety of uses for livestock by-products is incredible, and includes things like cosmetics, crayons, clothing, and even sports equipment and musical instruments! This resource will get students thinking and help them make these connections.
Making the connection between animal by-products and what they are used for can lead to a better appreciation of how important agriculture is beyond providing us with healthy food. It also speaks to the responsibility that we have to utilize as much of the animal as possible.
Activities in this kit will help students connect some of the everyday items they use at home and school to the livestock by-products that are needed to make them.
New to volunteering with AITC-M?
You will need to:
- Go to aitcdashboard.ca
- Create a volunteer profile with your name and email address.
- Fill out a volunteer application.
- Once your application is approved, log back into your account and register for CALM.
Save your username and password to register to volunteer for any of our programs!