science environment

Crossing The Urban-Rural Divide: 8 Years Later

By Ed Jahn (OPB)
Oct. 26, 2016 10:02 p.m.

In 2009, Oregon Field Guide followed along as 12 middle school students from Sunnyside Environmental School in Portland traveled 300 miles from their home to live on ranches across rural Grant County.

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It was a bold experiment: Could Oregon’s bitter urban-rural divide be bridged by giving city kids a chance to work and live with ranchers whose lives were completely different from their own?

The kids profiled by Oregon Field Guide in 2009 for the special, “Crossing the Urban-Rural Divide” are now young adults participating in elections, gun control debates and civic issues across the state and the county.

Did the ranch-living experience influence how they view the world or the issues we face today?  Has the urban-rural exchange succeeded in its mission?

Check the slideshow below and see what the kids, ranchers and employees thought of the program then and now.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:
THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:
THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR: