During this year’s celebration of Agriculture Week, Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan has named Sandra Hessdorfer the 2025 Champion Award winner, honouring her lifelong commitment to educating youth and the broader public about farming, food, and the future of agriculture in Saskatchewan. The award was presented during a CelebrateAg luncheon in Saskatoon, recognizing Hessdorfer’s innovative work as Agriculture Education Officer with the Horizon School Division and her broader impact on ag literacy across the province. “I honestly thought they’d made a mistake,” Hessdorfer said, laughing, during an interview following the event. “It took me a few days to even respond to the email. I just kept thinking, ‘Is this real?’” The Champion Award, presented annually by Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan, honours individuals who work to build public trust in agriculture by engaging with consumers and fostering awareness of the farming industry. For Hessdorfer, that mission is personal. From her earliest days growing up on a livestock and orchard farm in British Columbia, agriculture wasn’t just a lifestyle – it was a calling. “I think I started teaching agriculture as a kid,” she said. “In Grade 4, I brought my whole class on a farm tour. My parents made it happen. We had kids riding in buckets, not something you'd get away with now, but the excitement and curiosity were there.” That early passion has evolved into a professional mission to close the knowledge gap between where food comes from and how it gets to the table. Hessdorfer's unique position with Horizon School Division, one of the only roles of its kind in the province, allows her to do just that, from the inside out. However, her path to this point wasn’t a straight line. After stints working in the agriculture sector with Big Sky Farms and the Lake Lenore Co-op Agro Centre, Hessdorfer took a step back to raise her family and began working as an educational assistant. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic that she reignited her passion for agricultural education — quite literally from the family farm. “I started making videos for the Grade 1 class called Mrs. H on the Farm,” she explained. “It brought together everything I loved – connecting with kids, teaching, and showing the reality of farm life.” That initiative sparked a deeper transformation. Through the Canadian Western Agribition’s Next Gen Mentorship Program, Hessdorfer was paired with Ag in the Classroom Saskatchewan’s Sara Shymko. The mentorship helped her regain confidence and recognize the unique intersection between education and agriculture that she was perfectly positioned to fill. “She kept telling me, ‘You belong here. This is where you're supposed to be,’” Hessdorfer recalled. Since then, Hessdorfer has become a driving force in bringing hands-on agriculture education to Saskatchewan classrooms. Under her guidance, Horizon School Division has implemented programs that directly connect students with food production — from hosting Student Ag Days that bring hundreds of students face-to-face with industry professionals, to exploring possibilities like school-based chicken coops and classroom gardens. “Right now, we have schools that want to raise chickens to supply eggs for breakfast programs,” she said. “It’s a full-circle moment — kids learning how food is produced and then seeing it feed their classmates.” Still, for Hessdorfer, it’s not just about eggs and chickens. She sees agriculture as a bridge, one that connects students to global issues like food security, climate change, economics, and public policy. In a time when misinformation about food and farming spreads quickly online, Hessdorfer believes the need for accurate, accessible ag education is more urgent than ever. “There’s such a disconnect between people and where their food comes from,” she said. “If we don’t trust the people growing our food, what are we going to eat?” Stayed tuned for the second installment in our look at Sandra Hessdorfer, her 2025 Farm & Food Saskatchewan Champion award, and her continuing work in the Horizon School Division. Listen to part one of our conversation with Sandra Hessdorfer below.