WEST FARGO, N.D. — For 26 years, volunteer Margie Martin Lee of Velva, N.D., has helped lead the Living Ag Classroom events at West Fargo, Minot and Bismarck, N.D.

The 2020 version of the event spanned four days from Feb. 25-28, in West Fargo.

Presenters brought agriculture concepts to more than 2,300 fourth-graders — 4,000 a year if you count events in Minot and Bismarck. Buses rolled into the Red River Valley Fairgrounds from more than 40 schools across the region. They came from from nearby Moorhead, Minn., Fargo, and Central Cass schools, but also from Wahpeton, N.D., Valley City, N.D., and Pelican Rapids, Minn

Lee helped start the event when she worked as a product promotion specialist for 15 years at the North Dakota Wheat Commission. She said this will be her last in West Fargo, but she’ll probably help out in Minot.

When she retired from her post in 2001, she just kept working with the event “because, it’s really kind of fun.” At her booth, Lee continues with the education, grinding wheat. “What is coming out of this?” she asks them, finally having to suggest that it’s flour for making bread and other baked goods.

Wheat to bread?

Lee recalls that the National Wheat Foods Council in those years conducted a survey on consumer knowledge. “People knew that whole-wheat bread came from wheat. . . . They had no idea where white bread came from,” she said. “That’s when we really knew we had to do something.”

Today the events fall under the North Dakota Ag Foundation, with funding from commodity organizations and soil conservation districts. This year’s event also included beef, honey, corn, dairy, and edible bean and sugar beet displays. The North Dakota State University Extension Service offered basic information about planting and harvest seasons.

The NDSU Saddle and Sirloin club brought in live pigs, sheep and a dairy calf for students to see up-close. Fifteen years ago, the groups hired Gail Benson Wilson, a career elementary and college educator, to evaluate it to make it more interactive and engaging.

All like honey

Chris Coleman, a teacher at Viking Elementary at Pelican Rapids, said the event is a highlight. A farm girl from Herman, Minn., Coleman has been teaching 33 years and has been coming for many years. Coleman said the event fits with the social studies unit that teaches about regions in the U.S., and their economics.

“Farming is such a big thing in our area,” she said.

The local FFA chapter raises funds for the bus ride. The kids are age 9 and 10 and often are too busy with sports or video games to get out on a farm.

“The big one they always like are the bees,” Coleman said. “They like the queen bee. They like the hive. Pretty much everybody likes honey.”