By Colleen Flanagan, The Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows News
Chef Brian Smith has been named the B.C. Agriculture in the Classroom Teacher of the Year.
The award is handed out by the B.C. Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation to a teacher in the province who has been a champion in agriculture education.
The award is presented annually at the Agri-Food Industry Gala in Abbotsford.
The Thomas Haney instructor found out two weeks ago he won the award.
“It’s kind of overwhelming,” said Smith, who much prefers his students to take the spotlight.
“Just being honoured with the prize is the main thing,” he said.
Smith and his students have been involved with the fruit and vegetable program through the B.C. Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation, as part of which local fruit is sent to the school every two weeks to be distributed.
For the past decade, they have also been a part of the Take A Bite of B.C. program, for which every month local farmers send the culinary arts students at the school a variety of local B.C. foods that they, in turn, showcase in the cafeteria to promote local agriculture.