810-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 4, 1991
This
Big
Went
Cow
To School
LORIN BEIDLER
Special to Lancaster Farming
SPORTING HILL (Lancaster
Co.) Gym classes at Manheim’s
Sporting Hill Elementary School
had to look twice one Friday morn
ing as their laps around the school
yard took them past the building’s
southern comer. After all, it’s not
every day that a cow and calf are
permitted to graze on school
grounds.
The bovine and her young son
were not unattended, however. At
the other end of their halters were
Nelson and Alma Wenger, two of
the local farmers who participated
in Manheim Central’s Ag Week in
the Classroom recently.
Ag Week in the Classroom,
which has been held at Manheim
Central in each of the last six years,
is conducted by the Lancaster and
Pennsylvania Farmers’ Associa
tions with the intention of raising
the student body’s awareness of
agriculture. Dorothy Myer, who
along with her husband Carl, oper
ates a dairy farm near Manheim,
was asked by the Lancaster Far
mer’s Association to line up local
farmers to give presentations on
their type of farming to the dis
trict’s various third grade classes.
Each day during Ag Week, the
various third grade classes in Man
heim Central’s eight elementary
schools heard reports On raising
rabbits, sheep, poultry, hogs or
dairy cows. Like the Wengers,
many of the presenters brought ani
mals along for the students to see
and touch.
According to Mycr, the program
was started by a tcacher/farmcr’s
wife m Illinois who saw the need
Nelson and
ownei
Nelson Wenger of Manheim holds the Holstein that he
took along to Sporting Hill Elementary for the presentation
for more agricultural awareness on
the part of her non-farming stu
dents. The program subsequently
came to be endorsed by the United
States Department of Agriculture,
and later by the Pennslvania Far
mers’ Association
The main purpose for the week,
says Myer, is to show the students
how agriculture impacts their lives.
“It’s a way of getting in the class
room and saying ‘Agriculture is a
big business’ it’s not just a far
mer out there doing his thing, it’s
something that affects (the stu
dents) directly.”
Myer points out lhatas the popu
lation of the county grows, such
ta Wenger.
programs become more and more
relevant, as more and more people
end up with farms in their back
yards. Issues such as land use, food
quality and respect for farming are
becoming more pervasive all the
time. The Lancaster Farmer’s
Association also provides teachers
with support materials that help
them prepare for the visit and for
other independent lessons as well.
As April is the month in which
most of the cultivating is done, it is
typically a hard month in which to
get farmers out of their fields
“When the sun shines, we’re in the
fields,” says Myer. The program
has proved so rewarding to farmers
iheim greet a young bull-calf
0
and students alike, however, that
Myer usually has no trouble getting
volunteers.
In fact the program seems to be a
hit with everyone. ‘The teachers
always seem pretty enthused. They
Photos Lorln Beldlor
that he and wife Alma gave for Ag in the Classroom Week.
Readers Write
Dear Kid’s Korner,
Hi! My name is Nicole Gross. I
am 11 years old. I have a brother
named Brandon. He is 9. This
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Lock brakes before leaving the tractor seat
usually want it back again (the next
year), anyway.”
And of course the kids like it too.
“It’s good for the kids,” Myer adds.
“The kids love the animals. You
know how kids are with animals.”
week my family planted our gar
den. It was a lot of fun.
Nicole Gross
Myerstown