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Farms around the world: Emu Week and the Emu Country Hoedown   A teacher at Joe Henderson Elementary School in Benicia, California connects her school to farms around world, and hosts the world's first ever Emu Country Hoedown!   By Becky Ross

wing your partner, do-si-do! Grab your emu burger and away we go! What is an emu? Why an emu hoedown? What does this have to do with technology? Incredibly, these subjects are all related and are all part of a unique experience the staff and students are experiencing at Joe Henderson Elementary School in Benicia, California.

ach year, Henderson has a school-wide theme, around which we build many of our activities. This year's theme, Old MacHenderson's Farm, has three components: farms and farm-life, the land and what helps things grow, and caring for the environment.        I found myself faced with a dilemma, however. I had never been on a farm. How could I possibly bring farms alive for the students so that authentic and exciting learning could take place, and so that farms and life on a farm could be portrayed accurately? Being an addicted "Web trekker," I began exploring the Internet for links, lesson plans, and agriculture resources. I discovered a Web site where an Indiana Biochemist, Harold Eddleman, had listed links to about 30 different farms around the world. This was the first spark for an idea that would overtake our school in coming months.

recalled Jeff Brown's children's book, Flat Stanley, and the related school project by Dale Hubert. In the book, Flat Stanley was flattened when a bulletin board fell on him. He wanted to visit his friends in California, but it was too expensive to go by train or plane. Since he was so flat, his family decided to mail him to California. In the related project, Dale helps classes from many states mail a "Flat Stanley" to friends, relatives, or other classes. The Flat Stanley then gathers information about these far off places. That was the second spark.        We could send our students as flat visitors to stay on farms for a virtual visit. Then they might be able to take a glimpse at lifestyles and cultures that might otherwise be something they would never experience. And so began our Farms Around the World (FAW) project.

"I set out to recruit farms for our 120 third graders. However, the response was so great from the farm community that there were soon enough farms to allow the involvement of students from kindergarten through fifth grade!"

contacted farms and ranches around the world asking if they would agree to host our "paper student" for a period of about two weeks. The farmers needed a central place to find information, so I created a Website with an overview of the project and contact information. I set out to recruit farms for our 120 third graders. However, the response was so great from the farm community that there were soon enough farms to allow the involvement of students from kindergarten through fifth grade!        Back-to-School in September brought on a flurry of activity as students began to prepare for their "departures." By this time, over 400 farms from 33 states and 16 countries had volunteered to host a flat visitor. Students used the Internet to research the climate and geography of their host-farm, and to plan their method of travel. They also wrote in their journals about themselves, Benicia, and their anticipations about the upcoming visit.        The journals included extra pages for the "paper student" to keep daily entries of their experiences at the farm. Someone at the participating farm would make daily entries in the first person, recording information about the daily routine, activities, and thoughts that the student would have at the farm. Then each student created a paper copy of himself or herself, and painted and laminated it. The students bundled their paper selves and their journals into mailers and off they went. After the two-week visit, the farm family would then mail the paper student back with the journal and any souvenirs that the student had collected. We would then display all of the returns for our Open House.

he excitement wasn't over yet though! While electronically chatting with Myra Charleston of Red Oak Emu Ranch in Tennessee, I asked about getting some emu jerky or emu snack sticks for my class to taste. She said that she would try to find a local distributor for me. I received the following long distance introduction: [Becky,] this is Simon Caleb, emu farmer. Simon, this is Becky Ross, school teacher. Becky, Simon has had a wonderful idea to give the kids at your school a taste of emu. He is volunteering to donate over 400 emu burgers for a cook out! If you can get someone else to donate the buns and fixins, you can have a wonderful time and the children can all do taste test. You might be able to carry this a step further and have a fund-raiser for your school. Tell us what you think.      This act of generosity gained fabulous momentum. Myra and Simon contacted emu farmers all around the U.S. who began donating feathers, eggs, oil and soap -- enough for every student and staff member at the school! During Emu Week, we distributed one item each day to all the staff and students in the school. Monday, the children each received a sample of emu leather. Tuesday, they took home emu feathers. Wednesday brought oil samples. Thursday, everyone tried emu jerky and received a soap sample. Then, the long awaited prize: on Friday, each family received an emu egg! That night the week culminated with the Emu Country Hoedown serving the emu burgers. Professional DJ, Terry McInerney -"The King of Fun" - donated his time to entertain us with country and dance music. To top it all off, John Doe, a country caller, led students, parents, staff, and our own dancing emu (a staff member in costume) to the Virginia Reel and other call dances.

Henderson's own dancing emu, Edwina, at the Emu Country Hoedown!

e also had a raffle, in which we raffled off numerous prizes donated by our generous emu farmers. They donated carved and painted eggs, assorted lotions and oils, feather dusters, leather goods, a beautiful limited edition Emu print by wildlife artist Michael James Riddet, and emu toenail jewelry! That's right, toenail jewelry: painstakingly decorated emu toenails with glittery paint and golden threads. The farmer added beads and feathers to make earrings, necklaces, and key chains. These were a big hit with the kids. One fourth grade student spent all of his raffle money on tickets for the toenails.        And the burgers? "The burgers were actually quite tasty, and we were all impressed with the nutritional information provided to us," recounted mom, Janis King. In response to the whole event, one of our parents, Mark Stephenson wrote: As a principal of El Centro Elementary School in Napa, California and an Apple Distinguished Educator, I cherish this memory as an example of the inspirational curriculum that can result from creative Internet projects involving students of all ages in authentic hands-on research and learning. Becky Ross and other Henderson teachers did a sensational job of enriching the lives of our children, involving them in reading, writing, science, and social studies; in short, a thematic curriculum that touched all disciplines and is what quality teaching is all about!   As a parent of two children who benefited from this extraordinary event, my heartfelt thanks to all [the people] who contributed to making this a delightful experience! [My daughter] received daily treats from the emu farm including emu oil, decorated emu eggs, leather, feathers, and emu jerky. She looked forward to each days' treat with great enthusiasm. She beamed with pride in sharing her knowledge about emu farming with us.

t seems that this was only the tip of the iceberg, or cornpile, if you will. Now that our due date is near for the Farms Around the World project, flat children and their journals depicting their experiences have been arriving daily. Some of the children's adventures can even be seen on the Internet. A handful of the more Internet savvy farmers have created Websites complete with scanned images and day by day accounts of their visitors' experiences. The farmers have written about how much they have enjoyed this experience. Linda Stelting of Nelson Family Farms in Oregon wrote: We have really enjoyed this project and believe it is a very worthwhile learning experience for all students and teachers alike. It has also been interesting for me to try to see the farm from an outside view and try to explain it to someone who isn't there. Hopefully you will all enjoy and be able to understand the contents of Michael's journal. I hope you are going to continue this project in future years, perhaps in other grades or in other schools. It is very worthwhile. I first heard of you through my sister, Ruth Rubelt, who lives in Eastern Oregon on a ranch out in the high desert. She also did a Flat Student project. We all agree it is the type of education that is needed to explain the importance of agriculture in our country.      Another response came from Bob Coffman of Farm Journal. He said: I have followed your FAW Project with great interest since we communicated last summer. Farm Journal is still very interested in what you are doing, and I have followed the student travels online with great interest and joy. . . . You have to be very proud . . . and we in agriculture thank you profusely for helping foster understanding.

can't begin to explain how grateful I am to these people for their time, and for the insight they've given us into their private worlds as farmers. My only regret is that I haven't found a way for the public to view all the extraordinary and heartfelt results. A few responses are posted at our Farms Around the World site. The responses have surpassed my wildest expectations since I began this adventure last summer. I continue to be in awe of the devotion to the craft and livelihood of the farmers that I am fortunate enough to witness through this project.

Check out these sites!

See the adventures of some of the "Paper Students"   Arielle in England. Arielle does farm chores and experiences daily life in St. Albans.   Elliot in Saskatchewan, Canada. Elliot learns about durum wheat, which is used for making pasta!   Kerry in Ireland. Kerry sees cows being milked by machine, and learns about raising livestock near Dublin.

Becky Ross is an elementary teacher from Benicia, California. Teacher Testimony authors are nominated by people like you. Send nominations to the editor. © 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 SCR*TEC.   This page is Bobby Approved.