Educator honored

Lander – Riva Lobatos has been selected as the Wyoming Agriculture in the Classroom (WAIC) Educator of the Year. Lobatos currently teaches fourth grade at Fort Washakie Elementary in Fremont County.  

Lobatos is active in her school, education communities and WAIC programs. WAIC shared, “She has been involved with writing, revising and teaching the Wyoming Stewardship Program (WSP) over the past four years.”  

“Using the WAIC materials provided my students with information about the state they live in and inspired many of them to talk their grown-ups into exploring more of the state,” said Lobatos. “Not only have we talked about caring for the land, water and animals, but we have also introduced the idea of recycling and its impact on future generations.” 

Lobatos uses WSP to have meaningful discussions on natural resources, the economic impacts of those resources and the importance of caring for the land with her students. This year through her virtual classroom, Lobatos has used resources from the WPS as she and her students explored Devils Tower and a Wyoming trona mine through virtual field trips.  

As the 2021 WAIC Educator of the Year, Lobatos will be awarded a cash prize of $2,500, funded by the Vermillion Ranch Limited Partnership, Mantha Phillips and the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. In addition, Lobatos will be recognized at the 2021 Wyoming Agriculture Hall of Fame Picnic Aug. 18 at Riverside Park in Douglas during the Wyoming State Fair.