SOUTHSIDE FIFTH GRADERS Josie Dickinson, Savannah King and Sophia Buckman petted sheep during a stop at the animal science station on Ag Day at Woodford County High School on March 20. (Photo by Bob Vlach)

WYATT SLUGANTZ sat atop a tractor while talking to fifth graders about farm safety during Ag Day on Monday, March 20 at Woodford County High School. In addition to being invited to get on a tractor and learn about its moving parts, the visiting fifth graders also learned about how to operate a riding lawnmower safely. (Photo by Bob Vlach)

CAROLINA RHEA, a senior at Woodford County High School and its FFA chapter president, talked to fifth graders from Southside Elementary School about how food gets from the farm to their dinner table during Ag Day. Americans, she told the visiting students, spend $70 billion a year on dairy products. (Photo by Bob Vlach)

WCHS SOPHOMORE Annabel Lewis helped visiting Southside Elementary students Tyler Blanton and Shelby Nalley with planting their flowers during Ag Day last Friday, March 20. (Photo by Bob Vlach)

By Bob Vlach

Woodford Sun Staff

Students in the agriculture program at Woodford County High School welcomed fifth graders to their campus last Friday, March 20, for Ag Day.

Ag Day was an opportunity for the older students to educate visiting fifth graders about the different career pathways in agriculture at WCHS. The outreach project was also a way to continue educating the elementary school students about the importance of agriculture in their community.

“Back in the fall semester,” said Carolina Rhea, president of the FFA chapter at WCHS, “we went to them.… So for this semester, we wanted them to come to us so we could show them … (what) we offer at the high school.”

From tractor safety to food and animal science, the visiting fifth graders went to five different stations where WCHS students shared knowledge gained from their agriculture classes, according to Carolina.

“I want to be a teacher,” she told the Sun, “so getting to talk to kids today has been incredible.”

Other students in an agriculture career pathway at WCHS may not share Carolina’s desire to become a high school ag teacher, but many do want to work in an area of the industry that they got to share with visiting fifth graders, she added.

“They get to see real-world agriculture, and they get to see possible pathways that they (can) take as they get to the high school,” said Southside fifth grade teacher Meghan Drennan. She lauded the high school students for giving Southside fifth graders greater insight into what they’re learning in classes at WCHS and how those skills and that knowledge apply to the real world of agriculture.

Over at the greenhouse, WCHS sophomore Annabel Lewis was talking about how she and her peers grow plants more effectively in an environment where temperature and moister levels are controlled.

Taking an introduction to greenhouse class at WCHS was what gave Annabel an appreciation for growing plants, she told the Sun. It also made her realize, “Woe, this is actually cool. It’s something that I can do.”

As WCHS junior Kason Blevins watched the visiting students fill pots with soil before planting flowers that they took home with them after the school day, he said, “They’re really doing a good job.”

At a station focused on animal science, WCHS sophomore Avery Wismen told fifth graders that nearly anything we use in our everyday lives – from the clothes we wear to the food we eat – comes from animals.

“… It’s just important that they know where everything comes from and to appreciate the animals and how much they do for us,” said Avery, who wants to become an equine chiropractor. She said she learned to appreciate and respect animals because she grew up around horses, with parents who worked in the thoroughbred industry, she added.

“It’s nice to partner with another school in our district – especially a school that they (our students) will be attending one day,” said Drennan. “So it’s very great that they get to have these future opportunities presented to them as fifth graders.”

“This goes beyond promoting” our agriculture program to the elementary schools, said Carolina. Describing agriculture as “the backbone of our nation,” she said there are so many career opportunities in the agriculture industry that some were not highlighted during the first-ever WCHS Ag Day.

The FFA Chapter at WCHS is now an affiliated program, so every student in its agriculture program is also considered a member of its affiliated FFA chapter, Carolina said. Those students hosted Northside and Southside elementary schools last Friday and are scheduled to host Huntertown on Friday, March 27.