Youth takes ranching way of life to urban students

At eight-years-old, Weston Svoboda is already a spokesperson for rural living and the ranching lifestyle that his family maintains in the Nebraska Sandhills. Although he just completed the second grade at Sargent Public School, he's spent the last two years communicating his way of life with his peers in elementary schools in urban settings through the Ag Pen Pals program. The young agricultural advocate is the son of Scott and Jennifer Svoboda and is the fourth generation to live on his family's ranch. He is in his second year of the Ag Pen Pals program, and this year communicated with two classrooms through written letters and videos filmed on his family's registered Angus ranch, Sand Dune Cattle Company, south of Sargent. He corresponded with a second grade class at Cottonwood Elementary School in the Millard Public School District and also with a first grade class at Gomez Heritage Elementary School near downtown Omaha, comprised of students from several ethnic backgrounds, many who speak an additional language besides English. Over the last several months, Weston has exchanged letters, sent pictures and made videos in hopes of educating his pen pals about agriculture and rural life in Nebraska. Weston says the best part of the pen pal program is actually getting to go to their classroom and meeting the kids he's been writing to throughout the year...HighPlainsJournal