Ag Day gives fourth graders inside look at agriculture
Keene Elementary School fourth graders Payten McVay and Madison Hammond had the opportunity to pet sheep at the Coshocton County Farm Bureau Ag Day held Oct. 19 at Lake Park. Josie Sellers | Beaco
COSHOCTON – Montana Seitz was excited to help at his first Coshocton County Farm Bureau Ag Day.
“I want to teach kids about agriculture,” he said. “If they live in town they don’t always get the opportunity to learn about this.”
Fourth grade students from the county were invited to Lake Park on Oct. 19 to learn a variety of agriculture lessons from community volunteers who were assisted by Ridgewood High School FFA members like Seitz. The event was originally scheduled for September at the Coshocton County Fairgrounds, but had to be rescheduled.
Kathy Bigrigg, who teaches science and math at Keene Elementary, is glad the Farm Bureau gives students the opportunity to learn directly from those involved with agriculture.
“I grew up around farming so I get excited about this,” she said. “A lot of kids don’t so here they get hands on experience.”
At the sheep station her fourth graders and others who took part in the event had the opportunity to pet sheep.
“I know a lot of the presenters here and it’s really nice they let the kids do things like that,” Bigrigg said. “My kids showed sheep in 4-H and this gives these kids a little piece of what it would be like to raise animals.”
Helping at the sheep station was Karen and Leon Locke who raise sheep.
“I like doing this because of the kids and getting to teach them about sheep,” Leon said.
Throughout their time at Ag Day the students visited a variety of stations and learned lessons on numerous topics including beef, dairy, bees, swine, seeds and 4-H.
“What I like about this event is that the kids get to see where their food comes from and can get the whole big picture,” said Kayla Jones, organizational director for the farm bureau.
She also is grateful for the volunteers who take time out of their days to teach the students.
“We couldn’t do it without the community members,” Jones said. “They are dedicated. They love doing this and work their schedules around it.”
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