Five years ago, the CHS Foundation partnered with Discovery Education to create Cooperative Minds, a free, interactive learning portal designed to help students in grades six through 12 understand the cooperative business model, farming and agricultural career options. Since then, the content and learning opportunities have expanded to include gamified learning, a virtual field trip to a farm and a full spectrum of career profiles.
Teaching about cooperatives
Tens of thousands of students have accessed the site to learn about the co-op business model. “We want students to understand the agricultural cooperative business model because they are future co-op community members, patrons, farmers and employees,” says Tera Stoddard, a senior specialist with the CHS stewardship team, which works with the CHS Foundation and CHS community giving.
“CHS is the nation’s largest cooperative, and this learning portal strives to help students see all aspects of a co-op, from the variety of jobs featured in the Cooperative Careers section to making decisions in the portal’s interactive game.”
Farmer-centric
The farmer is the heart of the co-op throughout the Cooperative Minds learning modules.
In “Harvest: From Seed to Success,” an interactive game, students become virtual farmers and learn what’s involved in growing a crop from seed to successful harvest. They consult ag professionals to analyze soil samples, choose crops and fertilizers, decide when to harvest and get behind the virtual wheel of a combine. The experience changes each time a student plays the game, and students have the opportunity to compete with classmates for the most successful harvest results.
The Cooperative Careers section introduces students to nine real-world professionals who work for and with co-ops, highlighting the diversity in jobs available and skillsets that help agricultural co-ops succeed.
The virtual field trip features a conversation with a farmer who helps students explore how agricultural co-ops work and the resources they provide. The farmer talks about everything from agronomy technology to energy and describes how co-ops help farmers merchandise grain. “The goal is to get students excited to either want to become a farmer or pursue a career that serves farmers,” says Stoddard.
Developing the next generation of ag leaders
Since 1947, the CHS Foundation has been dedicated to developing the next generation of agricultural leaders through cooperative education, university partnerships and leadership programs.
“We value our partnership with Discovery Education that allows us to offer this learning resource for teachers and students,” says Stoddard. “The gamified learning is popular, and teachers appreciate the ability to introduce the various modules in the classroom as they see fit.
“We encourage cooperative owners to share these accessible, easy-to-use resources and educator guides with teachers and students in their communities.”
Cooperative Minds is available at no cost to teachers and students who want to explore careers in agricultural, farming and agricultural cooperatives. Find ready-to-use student activities and educator guides at cooperative-minds.com.
