Close Encounters with Agriculture is a free, award-winning program offered each year to Montgomery County fourth-grade students from the public, and private sectors. Since 1993, over 110,000 students have participated in this hands-on educational program designed to teach students about modern agriculture, maintaining a robust environment, and making healthy nutritional choices.
Students have been learning about the type of work serfs did in the Middle Ages, so students were making connections to the planting and harvesting crops, grains/wheat, and caring for livestock. The goats, dairy/milking, and parts of a plant activities complimented the above described parts of the curriculum.
Thank you for the grain book it is a neat souvinear [sic] and the drawings are so cute. It will always remind me six servings of grain a day keeps you healthy and strong.
We thank the following donors for helping to make the 2025-2026 programs successful
To receive a digital copy of our program teacher workbooks, please email us.
We will be emailing all MCPS and private school fourth-grade teachers in April with next year's program information.
