This year, we once again had the opportunity to participate in Ag Literacy Week.

This is an event that is put on by our local Farm Bureau and Penn State Extension Office, and it has grown to include more than 1,600 kids — kindergarten to second grade — in our county. The kids were read a story called “Anywhere Farm” and were given some activities and sent home with a pepper or tomato plant.

The elementary school our boys attend also participated in this event. This year, Mike read to both Cole and Caleb’s classes, and the boys got to help answer questions about our farm. They loved it, and the other kids seemed to as well. For kindergarten and first graders, they asked some decent questions.

While this event is great and serves its purpose to introduce ag to children, we feel that one week out of the year is not necessarily enough to fully educate kids on agriculture.

Luckily for us, and especially our boys, we have found that a lot of the teachers at our elementary school feel that this is an important topic, too, and also want to learn. Not only are they supportive of us any time we ask them to participate in an ag-related activity, but they have also reached out to us. Cole’s teacher even asked for extra farm pictures for the class to look at during ag week, and she has come out to the farm more than once.

In September, we invited the school to come to one of our sunflower evenings. We had a great turnout, and everyone who came said they had a wonderful time. The support from the teaching staff was amazing.

Shortly after, the kindergarten teachers reached out asking if we would be willing to have a field trip for the kindergarten classes, Caleb, of course, was extremely excited. We did, and seeing the excitement on the kids’ faces as some of them went on their first hayride was totally worth it. Again, they asked a lot of questions and genuinely wanted to learn.

In December we were asked by the school to bring one of our calves to their Christmas event. While this may seem silly, it was a great way to educate not only the kids in attendance, but also their parents, especially those who thought we had a goat.

The first half of the year, the boys had computer class. The second half, they have STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). When they brought home their introductory papers from the teacher, Mike was surprised to see that not only did he know the teacher, but that ag education was listed as one of the topics that would be taught.

He immediately reached out to the teacher, stating that he was thrilled ag education was listed and that he was willing to be of assistance on any topics if needed. The teacher was enthusiastic about this and has picked Mike’s brain on different topics and ideas. He said, “I feel it’s important for the kids to know where their food comes from.” How amazing is that!

We are blessed the boys go to school in an environment where they are supported and encouraged to do the things they love. We have not encountered any “dumb farmer” or “poor farmer” stigma that so often accompanies farmers and farm kids from those who have no understanding of how much education, money, dedication and hard work it truly takes to be a farmer.

It is our hope that this trend continues as the boys get older, and move up through middle school and high school. We also pray that there are thousands of other teachers throughout the country who feel that ag education is important to their students.

We will continue to do our part to help educate, promote and provide resources where needed!

The Reskovacs and their sons farm near Uniontown, Pa. Check out all of their "Two Hearts, One Harvest" blogs