COURTESY/Provider Pals

Kaycee-area rancher Jason Williams shares secrets of roping with students in West Covina, Calif., earlier this year. Williams says students responded enthusiastically to his presentation on Wyoming ranching.

About Provider Pals

* What it is: A Montana-based program whose mission is "to build a bridge of understanding between our nation's youth and the rural resource cultures which provide the products found on their store shelves."

* Backers: Since the program's introduction in 1997 by logger Bruce Vincent of Libby, Mont., Ford Motor Co. has become a principal sponsor, enabling the program to reach beyond Montana to young people from New York to California. Ford Motor also formed the Ford Country Scholars Program, which gives $5,000 scholarships to Western high school students whose continued education will prepare them for careers in rural communities.

* For more information: Call 406-293-8822 or go online to www.providerpals.com.

KAYCEE - "How can you raise animals and then sell them, knowing they will be killed?"

"Do you have electricity?"

"Are there schools where you live?"

"I was wondering, how long does it (take) to harvest your crops and send them to the store?"

Those were just a few of the questions asked of Jason Williams, 32-year-old Kaycee-area rancher, during a visit to Edgewood Middle School in West Covina, Calif., in January.

"It's unbelievable how sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders in urban schools have absolutely no concept of Wyoming or anything about ranch life," Williams said.

That's something that he and other members of a new organization called Provider Pals want to change.

The group's goal is to dispel myths and misinformation about people who make their living off the land by reaching out in person to the next generation of decision-makers.

Williams is a fifth-generation rancher on the family-owned Brock Livestock Co. ranch northwest of Kaycee. He was introduced to Bruce Vincent, Montana logger and founder of Provider Pals, while attending a seminar in Washington, D.C., in March 2004.

Intrigued by the concept of Vincent's program, Williams asked if he could become involved. Vincent immediately put him to the test by arranging a hands-on experience with sixth-graders in the nation's capital.

That was all it took.

"I just loved it," Williams said. "The kids were so enthusiastic to learn all about ranch life in the West - they just seemed to hang on every word and asked some really good questions."

After being accepted as a program volunteer, Williams began preparing for his next venture by keeping a monthly diary and a booklet of seasonal photos to use as visual aids. In January, he and his soon-to-be fiancee, Radona Vore of Douglas, joined a farmer, a miner, a fisherman and two loggers for presentations at the West Covina Middle School.

'A lot of misconceptions'

Although they had been "adopted" by the 800-plus students last fall and had been communicating with them via the Internet, video and mail, January's visit was their first face-to-face meeting. Williams and the other Provider Pals appeared in the classrooms dressed in their everyday work attire and with the tools of their trades in hand.

Williams said he shared his way of life and work experiences with 150 to 200 seventh-graders in their respective classrooms. He said all of the students in his classrooms listened attentively and were eager to ask questions.

"It was incredible," he said. "They wanted to know everything about me, from how much sleep I get and what kind of TV shows I like to how do I keep warm when it snows and if I'm married. But most of the questions were about the ranch and the animals. Even when they asked about where calves come from, they were respectful - there wasn't a smart aleck in the bunch."

After assuring the students that ranchers are not "hicks" who have no modern conveniences or technology, he got down to specifics on the important part a rancher plays in their lives.

"For example, they didn't know or just hadn't thought about the fact that the hamburger they get from McDonald's or the milk they buy from a store came from a cow. From the questions they asked, it was obvious that they had a lot of misconceptions," he said.

To one of the students who asked about how he could sell a cow knowing it's going to killed, Williams explained that ranchers are probably more aware of the life-and-death cycle than many other segments of society.

"I don't lie to them. I told them we spend good money to save a sick animal, but if that animal can't be saved, it's put down because our business is to sell healthy animals which can be converted into food and other by-products," he said.

In answer to another question about whether he had ever seen wolves, bears, lions or coyotes, he said he had seen coyotes and a mountain lion. In a confrontational tone of voice, one girl asked, "Have you ever killed an animal?" Williams said that he had, but after his explanation that sometimes it's necessary if his cows or other livestock are being threatened by a predator, she calmed down and got off her soapbox.

To illustrate that ranchers are also caretakers of some wild animals, he showed them photos he'd taken of deer and antelope resting in their meadows. He said the students were especially impressed with one showing an elk grazing in the middle of a bunch of cattle.

The classroom talks were followed by some hands-on demonstrations outside. Williams roped a plastic steer head mounted on a bale of hay and was immediately asked, "Why do you ever have to rope anything?" He replied that sometimes you have to rope an animal that is sick to give it medicine.

The students then had the opportunity to don cowboy hats and try their hand at roping.

"They found out it wasn't as easy as they thought, but they really got a kick out of getting their pictures taken in their cowboy clothes," he said.

Reciprocal learning

Williams is convinced the Provider Pals program is a step in the right direction in combating what he sees as propaganda about how people in rural areas are destroying the land with their animals and machinery.

"It's a great program, and I want to stay involved as long as they'll have me," he said. "Besides, this is a kind of reciprocal program. While I'm teaching about life on the ranch, I'm also learning a lot about life in the metropolitan areas. It works well both ways."

His next venture with Provider Pals will be in April, when his group will visit a middle school in Miami, Fla. All of the scheduling is arranged by Bruce Vincent's son, Chas, who is also a logger as well as project coordinator for Provider Pals.