Students at Frontier Elementary School were mesmerized by the life-sized woman on the screen, who saw and heard them as if she was actually standing in the classroom.

Except Diana Peck was several miles away Wednesday at the Kings County Office of Education, working in a brand new video-conferencing studio that is already bringing interactive live lessons from all over the U.S. into local classrooms.

You know those giant towers located near school sites? Well, they have the power to send broad-band, Wi-Fi broadcasts into classrooms. That means school districts can get live video and audio feed beamed in real time from the office of education. Internet connectivity makes it all possible.

For the last four years, the office has been taking advantage of the technology, said Janet Adams, curriculum technology consultant. Thousands of interactive lessons from as far away as New York, have already been offered.

It was just one step from there to building a studio at the office so Kings County can send out its own broadcasts not only to local students, but also to schools in other states.

That's how Diana Peck, executive director of the Kings County Farm Bureau, got involved. The farm bureau found out last year about an interactive gardening lesson taught by California First Lady Maria Shriver from a studio in Sacramento to kids in the local Pioneer School District.

It occurred to Peck: Why not use Kings County as a source point for interactive agricultural education? The idea has particular appeal to the farm bureau, which is tasked with convincing urban residents of the ongoing importance and significance of domestic farming.

"Our dream at the farm bureau is to bring more agriculture into the classroom, have kids understand where their food and fiber comes from," Peck said.

Adams and Peck got the ball rolling, the office found the funding and the studio got built. It's first video conference lesson, a session on cotton production taught by Peck, went live Dec. 17. By all accounts, it's been a big hit with students.

"It has been a phenomenal way to create interactivity," Adams said.

Teachers also appreciate the variety and the expertise that the subject matter can bring in. Tammy Rhoden, a third-grade teacher at Armona Elementary, noted that it was just as good as a field trip, only cheaper.

Rhoden's class recently did the cotton lesson with Peck.

"It was very cool, very informative. You don't have the transportation costs. It's convenient," said.

Eventually, the goal of the farm bureau is for Kings County to send its agricultural broadcasts to participating schools throughout the U.S., Adams said.

And the sky is wide open for other subject matter, too.

"[Students] are on the Internet, they're into YouTube, so the technology melds literally with where they are today," Peck said.

The reporter can be reached at 583-2432. To comment on this story, go to www.HanfordSentinel.com.

(Jan. 29, 2010)