By Kim McDarison
Some 29 Fort Atkinson High School FFA students, accompanied by their advisors and some 10 different species of agriculturally related animals arrived Friday at Rockwell Elementary School to participate in “Ag Day.”
FFA advisor Allison Parsons said the event is organized twice each year, once in the spring and once in the fall, and held at a different School District of Fort Atkinson elementary school building each rotation.
FFA Advisor Shannon Lyons said the event is organized to share with the younger students the importance of agriculture, while introducing them to animals they might not otherwise have an opportunity to experience. For the FFA students, she said, the event offers them an opportunity to hone their communication, leadership and agricultural advocacy skills.
The full day of events included several 30-minute classroom presentations made to elementary school students by FFA students, covering such topics as “Animal Terms and Names,” “Pumpkins,” “Dairy Products and Process,” and “Bees,” among others.
Elementary school students also were invited throughout the day to go outside in classroom groups and meet with and learn about the animals which were waiting in pens near the school playground.
Animals, students, teachers and advisors braved the cold during the outside portion of the event.
Elementary school students received a presentation given by FFA students about each species of animal. Elementary school students were encouraged to ask questions and offered opportunities to pet the animals.
According to Lyons, animals arriving at Rockwell are, in some cases, owned by FFA students or are supplied by supporters of the FFA program who allow the group to borrow the animals for presentations.
Some of the animals, including the rabbits and Guinea pigs, are residents of the high schools FFA animal lab, Parsons said.
Along with rabbits and Guinea pigs, animals on hand Friday included miniature donkeys, a Boer goat, a miniature horse, a llama, ducks, chickens, sheep and piglets.
As they arrived in groups, children expressed excitement over meeting the animals, asked questions, and several were offered an opportunity to climb inside a tractor, supplied and presented by members of the Bos family who own and farm acreage west of Fort Atkinson.
Photos of afternoon activities follow.
Fort Atkinson High School ninth-graders and FFA students Lily Rottmann, seated, and Kyra Kelleher, standing, at left, shield rabbits from the cold as students in Nicole Schaefer’s Rockwell Elementary School kindergarten class assemble to meet and learn about them. The activity was part of Ag Day held Friday.
Fort Atkinson High School FFA student Kyra Kelleher, at left, offers Rockwell Elementary School kindergarten students an opportunity to pet a rabbit.
Fort Atkinson High School FFA students Lily Rottmann, from left, and Kyra Kelleher care for rabbits in advance of the arrival of groups of Rockwell Elementary School students who were scheduled to meet the animals in the afternoon. Elementary school students spent the morning receiving presentations in their classrooms given by FFA students about animals and other agriculturally related topics. For elementary school students, scheduled times throughout the day were spent visiting with and learning about some 10 different species of animals brought to the school by the FFA students. The full day of activities was offered Friday as part of Ag Day.
Students in Nicole Schaefer’s kindergarten class raise their hands to ask questions about miniature donkeys. Two donkeys, “Freddy” and “Binney,” both 5, were on hand to receive attention and pets from the children.
Fort Atkinson High School FFA students Claire Burnette, at left, and Trace Hadler, both sophomores, prepare to greet Rockwell Elementary School students and answer questions about miniature donkeys. The animals are owned by Hadler who said they were given as gifts from his father to his mother, arriving on the family farm about three years ago.
Students in Nicole Schaefer’s Rockwell Elementary School kindergarten class pet a miniature donkey.
Students in Nicole Schaefer’s Rockwell Elementary School kindergarten class listen attentively while FFA students talks about farm animals and their importance in agriculture.
“Oreo,” a Boer goat owned by Fort Atkinson High School FFA student Trace Hadler, not pictured, receives care and attention from Fort Atkinson High School FFA student Evie Burger. According to Burger and Hadler, Boer goats can be used as meat animals and pets. Oreo was chosen to live on the Hadler family farm because he was so friendly, Hadler said.
Oreo the Boer goat waits his turn to be visited by Rockwell Elementary School students.
Describing themselves as Ag Day helpers, Fort Atkinson High School FFA students Cade Hein and Mariah Luebke, both seniors, take a break before preparing to receive Rockwell Elementary School students outside. Both said they spent the day helping out “as needed.” Luebke said she was among those making presentations in classrooms Friday morning. She made a presentation to third-graders about bees, she said.
Oreo the Boer goat takes a moment to surveil his new friends.
Grant Heagney, a ninth-grader and Fort Atkinson High School FFA student holds “Susan,” a Buff Orpington chicken. Both were on hand to greet Rockwell Elementary School students Friday. Heagney said he likes chickens and chose to work with them during Ag Day because they are among animals that can be cared for easily. Also available to meet students was “Joleen,” an “Australorp,” or Australian Black Orpington. The animals are kept primarily for egg-laying, according to FFA students.
“Sadie,” a miniature horse, and her owner, Fort Atkinson High School sophomore and FFA student Jessica Besch, visit in advance of students arriving to meet animals at Rockwell Elementary School Friday. Besch said Sadie, 12, is a mare, which is a female horse, and bay in color, meaning brown with black mane and tail. She knows how to drive a cart, Besch said, adding that she enjoys showing Sadie at fairs.
Fort Atkinson High School FFA advisors and Ag program teachers, Shannon Lyons, at left, and Allison Parsons organize outdoor events in advance of the arrival of Rockwell Elementary School students. Lyons said some 29 FFA students participated in Ag Day, which offers them an opportunity to build communication and leadership skills. Animals arriving at Rockwell are, in some cases, owned by FFA students or are supplied by supporters of the FFA program who allow the group to borrow the animals for presentations. Ag Day is held twice each year, in the spring and fall, Parsons said. The FFA students rotate annually between the district’s four elementary school buildings.
Two photos above: Julian Bos, at top, prepares to greet Rockwell Elementary School students. He is seated in a tractor owned by his brother who farms some 600 acres west of Fort Atkinson, he said. Bos, above, helps a kindergarten student climb into the cab of the New Holland T8.320 Genesis machine.
Jackson Brandl, a Fort Atkinson High School 10th-grader and FFA student, cares for “Ashley,” a llama, in advance of the arrival of Rockwell Elementary School students. While Brandl said he did not own the llama, he thought caring for her on Ag Day would be “cool.” Ashley is kept as a companion animal on an area farm, he said.
Rockwell Elementary School kindergarten students in Amy Schuldt’s class share their excitement in anticipation of meeting Ashley the llama.
Ashley the llama extends her neck in curiously as the kindergarten students in Amy Schuldt’s class assemble.
Groups of students move between presentation pens holding various farm animals. The activity was part of Ag Day held at Rockwell Elementary School Friday.
Two photos above: 10th-grade Fort Atkinson High School and FFA student Rylan Guth, at top, answers questions about ducks. FFA students brought a variety of ducks for elementary school students to meet, including, above, a “runner duck,” at right, a Norwegian blue duck, at left, and a crested duck, pictured center.
Kaiden Bates, an 11th-grader at Fort Atkinson High School and FFA student, holds a piglet named “Tate.” Bates was on hand Friday to present to elementary school students two Kunekune piglets, both of whom are 8-weeks old. When full grown, they can reach weights of 180 to 225 pounds, he said. The piglets, including “Olive,” an orange-colored female, were purchased to become a breeding pair, Bates said, noting that while the two piglets are the same age, one outpaced the other in growth because it was fed a “sugar-dense” diet. Bates said Kunekune pigs can be raised as pets or for meat.
Fort Atkinson High School FFA students huddle together to beat the cold in advance of making presentations to Rockwell Elementary School students. They are: Kammi Lyons, ninth-grade, from left; Katie Schenck, 10th-grade; Hailey Olson, ninth-grade, and Paige Fiege, ninth-grade.
Fort Atkinson High School FFA student Trace Hadler, at left, and Fort Atkinson High School FFA program advisor Allison Parsons hold Guinea pigs that live in the high school FFA animal lab. The Guinea pigs are named “Fred” and “George.”
Kim McDarison photos.
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