Toni Saso, agriscience teacher at Somonauk High School, has been selected to attend National Agriscience Teacher Ambassador Academy at Chesapeake Farms in Chestertown, Md., this summer. Agriculture teachers from across the United States applied for one of the 48 available ambassadors slots.

The “Ag Academy” is a professional development institute, sponsored by DuPont as a special project of the National FFA Foundation and the National Association of Agricultural Educators, where agriculture teachers learn new inquiry-based teaching techniques to improve science learning. Ecology, genetics and biofuels are just a few of the subjects investigated each year.

The goal of NATAA is to incorporate more science into existing curriculums, make learning fun and challenging for students and, as a result, improve student performance in standardized science test scores.