By Julie Hodges, Director of Education
When I came on board with the National Ranching Heritage Center in 2014, I was at once overwhelmed and extremely excited by the opportunities.
Trying to figure out how I could be successful in educating the public about ranching, I started with a call to one of my childhood heroes, John R. Erickson, author of the “Hank the Cowdog” book series. We arranged for him and his lovely wife Kris to come and perform a concert on our patio. We were both thrilled and surprised to see over 1,000 guests show up on a Tuesday afternoon to watch the concert and have their books signed. We could all see this collaboration had potential.
It was just after the concert that Mr. Erickson mentioned to me that he had three unpublished “Hank” manuscripts that I ought to take a look at. They were different than the regular series in that Hank endeavored to explain the ranching industry. As soon as the files arrived in my email, I printed them out and read them. When I finished, I could not believe the treasure in my hands. In his wholesome, humorous way, Hank the Cowdog explained everything I might ever want to teach folks about the industry, and he did it in a way that could be easily tied to the curriculum taught in schools. I called Mr. Erickson and told him, “I think I know what to do with these.”
Fast forward through eight years of printing and distributing books, collaborating with teachers across the state and nation and we have given away 25,000 copies, sold four times that many, trained over 1,000 educators, introduced the books to 100 school districts and presented Ranch Life Learning at local, state and national conferences. We became one of the best resources for agricultural literacy in the classroom, capturing the attention of larger institutions focused on ag ed: the Texas Farm Bureau and National Ag in the Classroom.
All this interest and excitement inspired us to begin dreaming bigger: we wanted to build a place that would bring each book to life and give folks a place to visit Hank the Cowdog. This is how the concept of the Ranch Life Learning Center was born.
Now, we’ve officially broken ground on the Cash Family Ranch Life Learning Center. By next summer, visitors can visit the headquarters of Hank the Cowdog’s ranch to learn about everything ranching: prairie ecosystems, the business of ranching, the partnership between a cowboy and his horse, the biology of beef cattle, archeology and so much more.
A lot of thought has gone into each high- and low-tech exhibit with the goal of presenting information about ranching and everything that goes into it in a fun, hands-on way that will encourage visitors to jump in and learn. In fact, there is so much to learn, we hope folks will visit many times. ★
