BlS—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 13,1914
Ag in
BY SUZANNE KEENE
LANCASTER Sixty pairs of
arms reach simultaneously toward
one tiny, squealing piglet, while
patient, smiling teachers struggle
to recover order in their
classrooms.
When at last the teachers are
successful, e'ach youngster takes a
turn at holding the piglet in his
arms for just a few seconds and to
feel its compact, bristly body
squirm against him.
The piglet and other farm
animals, products and implements
all came to school this week as part
of an “Ag in the Classroom”
project developed through the
combined efforts of the Depart
ment of Education, the Depart
ment of Agriculture and the
Pennsylvania Farmers
Association.
Potato farmer Jane Eshleman,
coordinator of the program in
jry iy l igi dctor
to school as part of their Ag in the Classroom presentation.
Here, Karen Gochnauer and Steven Hoffman marvel at the
size of the wheel.
Jt fit*-
Dairy farmers John Barley and Nelson Habecker show students at Hambright
Elementary School how a calf gets its breakfast.
he Classroom
Lancaster County and a former.
Penn Manor school board mem
ber, headed the pilot program in
the Penn Manor School District
this week.
A total of thirteen farmers and
several groups of FFA’ers
traveled to the six elementary
schools in the Penn Manor District
in an effort to give approximately
270 third-grade students a better
understanding of agriculture and
the role it plays in the economy and
in society.
The farmers gave presentations
on a variety of agricultural topics
including fruits and vegetables,
FFA, beef, chickens, hogs and
dairy. A number of the farmers
brought along feed, animals, farm
implements, and slides to share
with the students, giving additional
weight to their verbal message.
Hog producer Nancy Charles
came to the classroom equipped
A
program brings the farm to school
eyes were on this tiny piglet that
School as part of the Ag in Classroom
hold the squealing creature
with a “Porky” pig puppet, who
explained the workings of the hog
industry from a pig’s point of view.
Her presentation also included
slides of her farm and a visit from
a real piglet.
Using a slide presentation
consisting of scenes from their
farm, beef producers Marsha and
Henry Barley showed the
youngsters the equipment they use
to run their farm and the chores
that they must do each day. The
tractor they brought with them
was the highlight of the children’s
day
the groups of high school
FFA’ers who visited the
classrooms explained their dif
ferent projects and told the
younger students about the vo-ag
program available in the high
school.
Jane and Guy Eshleman, potato
farmers, explained to the students
that some vegetables grow on top
of the soil, some on stalks and
some below the ground. The
students also learned that potato
farmers must battle potato bugs
and later enjoyed a treat of potato
chips.
Dairy farmers Nelson Habecker
and John Barley explained dairy
farming to the students and
showed them a cow and calf and
the amount of food and water each
cow consumes every day. Later in
(Turn to Page B 20)
.y
&
visited the third-graders at Ann Letort
program this week. Each student had
Henry Barley, a local beef farmer, shows a model of the
combine he uses on his farm.
CHy teachers attend Ag
in the Classroom workshop
BY SUZANNE KEENE
LANCASTER - About 15
Lancaster School District teachers
voluntarily attended an Ag in the
Classroom workshop last week to
talk about ways of incorporating
information about farming into
their classrooms.
The workshop, headed by
Carolyn Holleran from the Penn
sylvania Council on Economic
Education, was primarily
designed to help teachers prepare
their students for a field trip to
Lancaster Harvest Days. The
teachers were also encouraged to
incorporate farming information
into their classes throughout the
school year.
The program featured a talk by
Lancaster County extension agent
Jay Irwin, who focused on
agriculture’s impact on the
county’s economy. “No other area
has the production we do,” he said,
citing production statistics for the
past year.
Dairy farmer John Barley
presented a lecture on dairying
that he plans to give to third-grade
students during an Ag in the
Classroom project in the Penn
Manor School District. His
presentation included facts about
dairy cows and dairy products.
Karen Freeman, a member of
Lancaster County’s Land
Preservation Board, told the
teachers about the movement to
protect farmland and discussed
the zoning changes and planning
necessary to protect prime far
mland from development.
Elementary
a chance to
Later in the program the
teachers received teaching
materials to use in their
classrooms.
Shirley Duschel, a third-grade
teacher attending the workshop,
said she learned a lot about far
ming during the program and was
excited about using the teaching
materials in her classes.
The workshop is just one part of
the Ag in the Classroom program,
which is a national movement to
help young people better un
derstand the source of their food
supply and the role of agriculture
in the total economy and society.