For seven years, Sandy Dorn, a 4th grade teacher at Meadow Lane Elementary School in Lincoln, Nebraska, and her students have been corresponding with a farm family through the Agriculture in the Classroom Ag Pen Pal Program. During the school year, Sandy's class is invited to visit their Ag Pen Pal's farm. Her students learn first hand about farming and the importance of this industry to their lives. After their farm visit the students draw pictures, write stories and poems about their adventures on the farm.

Through these lessons and activities in the classroom the students gain an understanding and awareness that agriculture provides them with the essentials of life. Sandy's philosophy is that agriculture connects us to our past, develops an appreciation for our present and celebrates with us the hope for our future.

A student in Melissa Ramsour's 4th grade class in North Bend Central Public School in North Bend, Nebraska, said, "I loved learning about pumpkins. It was the best day in my whole life when we got to take them off the vines." Each student was very excited to plant, observe, care for and harvest their pumpkins, but they were also learning math, science and reading/writing State Standards.

This unit was powerful because it was a cross-curricular unit and the activities were diversified to meet the needs of unique learning styles, interests, strengths and needs. The community was involved in this project as the students shared the pumpkins at a senior center and a day care center.