Olds (Rural Roots Canada) – Engaging youth in agriculture is vital to the future of the ag industry. 

An Alberta teenager is doing just that, teaching kids about Ag-technology using boxes full of educational activities focused on agriculture. 

Luke Silinski is the 17-year-old founder and Head of Play at Ag Tech STEAM. He believes STEAM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, is a great way to engage kids and has adapted the learning approach for agriculture. 

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He says he started the business to get agriculture technology education into the hands of rural and under-resourced kids.

“The AgTech STEAM boxes and free content packs have activities that encompass soil health, entomology, agronomy, and other agriculture-based activities,” says Silinski. 

The boxes they send out are full of agriculture activities for kids of all ages that will engage their minds and teach them about the opportunities in agriculture.

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“All of them are scalable, so kindergartners can do the fun activities while the older kids and high school students can do data analysis and collection and put the info into graphs to show to farmers.” 

So far, Silinski says the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. 

“I’ve had people from Calgary with balcony gardens telling me that they had no idea they could do this kind of stuff, saying it gives them a new perspective on agriculture. People from rural areas have also reached out, saying it’s cool. They’re excited to see these rural practices put into the boxes.” 

For more information, you can visit the Ag Tech STEAM website.