Missouri teacher wins first 'Rice in Classroom' award

The USA Rice Federation has awarded the first winner of the "U.S. Rice in the Classroom Challenge" contest, Cheryl Landers of Grandview High School in Grandview, Mo.
Landers used curriculum information provided by USA Rice to create an Iron Chef: Rice competition for her students. Her classes prepared rice using different cooking methods and competed to create a meal for four using only $6.

"The Iron Chef project was one of the students' favorite activities of the semester. They loved creating dishes with rice," said Landers, who said she was thrilled to receive the award. Landers will receive rice product courtesy of program sponsor SunWest Foods and an Aroma rice cooker.

Last fall Landers attended a teacher training event presented by USA Rice that was held in partnership with Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA). A chef educator joined Missouri rice producer Blake Gerard to present information about the Missouri and U.S. rice industries, culinary tips, and nutrition information about rice.

"I enjoyed participating in the training event, and I'm excited the first winner came from Missouri," said Gerard. "Because rice is our livelihood we can sometimes forget that most Americans don't even realize we grow rice in the U.S. These teacher events help us spread the word a little and put American-grown rice top-of-mind - especially important with key influencers like FCCL teachers."

The contest challenged teachers to create a lesson plan to share information about the role of rice in a healthy diet, rice cooking, and the domestic rice industry with students. Teachers are rewarded for their entries with rice products and rice cookers, and are entered to win a grand prize -- $500 American Express gift cards, generously donated by USA Rice member companies.