Pictured above are some of the post cards sent to help a kindergarten class in central Minnesota meet their 100th day goal. 

Joe Gill (KASM, Albany, MN) said it all began with a comment from my 6-year-old son, Ben, after school one day. He said, "Dad, our class is collecting postcards from all 50 states!" His excitement resulted in a few inquiring questions on Joe’s behalf. The first one was...why? He said this is how their class is going to celebrate 100 days of school. Getting 100 postcards in 100 days, while collecting cards from all 50 states. “What a neat idea, I thought!” According to his teacher, Cris Drais, this is the third year they’ve done the activity in preparation for the 100th day of school. A note went out to parents asking them to share with their family and friends all around the country. Ben said, "Hey Dad do you think we could get your ‘farm-worker’ friends to send some cards?” By ‘farm-worker’ friends, he meant other farm broadcasters. Joe took action. “I then proceeded to post a message on the NAFB West Region Facebook page and added a little twist. I asked other farm broadcasters to send a postcard from their state while including a unique farm fact from their state, too.” The response was immediate. “I thought this would be a neat way to share the message of agriculture to a generation of kids, many multi-generations removed from the farm, and to reach their goal of getting cards from all 50 states. The teacher says the kids have enjoyed the farm facts. They love facts about animals. If possible, they try to connect the fact to Minnesota, and the class will do a large farm unit in the Spring, so this year they’ll refer back to the info shared with them from the cards from farm broadcasters. Also, she mentioned they talk about “making connections” between real life and what they read and learn about. 

“Being an advocate for agriculture is a theme shared by many farm organizations and individuals today. Although in a very small scale, I feel this turned out to be a huge success in advocating for all in agriculture across all 50 states. And, this is another example of the great job and willingness of farm broadcasters to share the farming message as they do every day in their respective states.” Joe concludes, “Whether it’s a politician, a citrus grower, a dairy farmer, corn and soybean farmer, or a kindergarten class in central Minnesota, this special project showed how farm broadcasters are connecting, educating and informing consumers and those in agriculture every single day. Finally, thank you farm broadcasters. It’s a privilege to belong to such a dedicated group of outstanding agricultural communicators!” Ben Gill shows his personally designed 100th Day T-shirt.