Dan and Jeanne also participate in numerous workshops and public speaking engagements each year where they share their story of land management, history, family ranching, growing food, fiber and the direct marketing of their story as well as their products.

The Imperial Stock Ranch has served as a learning laboratory for the local school district K-12 for more than 10 years. We'd like to share what the First Grade teacher wrote regarding field trips to the ranch during lambing time for primary grades on numerous occasions.

"It is one of the most exciting learning opportunities we have outside the classroom. It goes beyond meeting objectives in traditional academic subjects. The nature of the activities we do there, foster character building learning moments. The most obvious ones are cooperating, sharing responsibility and team building which the kids experience as they combine to carry out their assigned chores. But it also takes a great deal of courage for these young students to enter a pen or enclosure with a ewe that size to feed and care for her. And the students show compassion for lambs that are lost or those who are occasionally rejected by their mothers. We end up having conversations about fear and loss and many other things. It's a wonderful and unique field trip because every student not only sees and hears, but participates in action-packed learning activities. It's also a good introduction to the ranch and many of the other activities that the students will be involved in out there over the years. The ranch is referred to as a field laboratory for the schools, but I like to think of it as a learning laboratory; and that we are beginning to instill a stewardship ethic of the land and animals even at the kindergarten and first grade level. The special nature of hands-on learning has winning results. Lessons are retained long into the future. Everyone wins. Even the sheep!"

— Bernie Chastain, Maupin Grade School