By Claire Chow ’26

Mercersburg faculty member Brooks Binau has been selected to participate in the Teacher Leader Community, a prestigious leadership program from Nourish the Future, a national STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) initiative connecting students to modern agriculture. Nourish the Future’s mission is to help teachers inspire students to learn science, solve problems, and see the possibilities of careers in agriculture.

“I chose to participate in the Nourish the Future Teacher Leadership Community because I want to advance my knowledge of incorporating agriculture science into my courses while furthering my leadership skills and my own professional development,” said Binau, who, prior to becoming a classroom teacher, ran school-based farm programs and worked with teachers incorporating agriculture lessons into their curriculum.

Binau finds agriculture to be “an excellent vehicle for teaching science as it is the application of several sciences with the goal of producing food to feed the world.”

Selected as one of only 32 teachers nationwide to participate in the yearlong fellowship, Binau is provided with a comprehensive professional development experience, including a behind-the-scenes tour of the research happening at Bayer Crop Science in St. Louis, and attendance at the nation’s leading agriculture conference: Commodity Classic. Binau will receive free classroom resources, specialized training in leadership and curriculum development, and access to additional industry experts from companies like Syngenta. As a key component of the program, Binau will create and present a professional development session to share about the science of agriculture with colleagues in Pennsylvania. 

“Nourish the Future develops curriculum materials that can be utilized in the classroom to teach a variety of science subjects, it is developed by teachers, paid for by farmers, and provides me an opportunity to share what I learn with more educators,” Binau said. He is excited to participate in the program and bring back what he learns to further enrich his courses at the Academy.

Nourish the Future education lead Heather Bryan summed up the importance of connecting the agriculture industry to the classroom: “Effective STEM teaching requires real-world context, which students and teachers find accessible in agriculture.”

“Learning science through agriculture inspires students to pursue critical scientific careers—many of which are currently unfilled in the agriculture industry,” added Bryan. “Through this program, Binau is opening up new opportunities for students and his colleagues and enhancing the way we teach science.”

For more information, visit nourishthefuture.org.