BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — In preparation for a new school year, the Illinois Soybean Assoc. (ISA) has unveiled the all-new podtoplate.org

The website, funded by the state soybean checkoff, was revamped to include more content, resource and activities, including the “Pod to Plate” video series and 14 new coloring sheets.

“When we developed the idea for podtoplate.org we wanted to provide an interactive activity that educators could use to teach children about soybean production in Illinois,” said ISA Ag Literacy and External Training Lead Julie Blunier.

Relying on feedback that she and ISA Field Promotions Coordinator Janet Hodel received from students and teachers, Blunier began outlining a central location for all of ISA’s Ag in the Classroom content. When initially introduced in June 2010, podtoplate.org focused on a self-guided adventure game featuring Sam the Soy Biodiesel Semi and his friends.

“We based our entire content around the game; however, it was not until we embarked on last year’s school tour that we realized we could, and should, do more with it,” she explained.

Today, the site has three games, as well as free resources that include fact sheets, recipes, and coloring and activity pages; videos from the podtoplate.org series, which takes a “Dirty Jobs” approach to soybean production; lesson plans divided by grade and subject with a teacher’s guide; and an online catalog of educational materials available at little or no cost.

Prior to the revamping, Blunier said “we had a lot of educational materials on our shelves, but didn’t feel teachers were working their way through our website to find it. As we revamped and renewed some of our educational materials, we took a look at how we reach out to teachers.”

Over the summer, Blunier said the ISA did much promotion through the Illinois Ag in the Classroom Summer Ag Institutes. “We got to show off the website. Teachers loved it. They raved that it’s easy, fresh and easy to find what they need.

“There is a ton of information on the Illinois Soybean Association website, but teachers are busy and they don’t have time to sift through all the information that’s there to find what they want,” she said.

She added most of the information was available in hard-copy form that had to be ordered from the Bloomington office. The website makes much of that available in PDF format that can be downloaded instantly. “It took time and effort for staff to get things mailed out to the teachers, too, so this is a win-win for both sides,” Blunier said. “We’re very proud of the site and look for it to grow as teachers add input and write lesson plans based on the video series.”

Although geared toward students in K-8 and their teachers, anyone is welcome to visit the site and take advantage of all it has to offer. For more information, visit http://podtoplate.org