My hats off too my students

[coachmac]

We had Ag Day at the school I teach at on Tuesday.  It is basically a day where my 8th graders "teach" the elementary (300 kids) grades PK-6 about different parts of Agriculture in our area.  It was pretty awesome!  Our "Principal Appointed" tech guy...... that is waaaaay underpaid, put this slide show together for me without letting me know about it until it was done.  It made my day!  I couldn't have been more proud of these kids.  My students brought in some of the animals (swine, sheep, farm equipment, chickens, goats) and I rounded up the rest (Simmies, Jersey, Horses), while my neice and nephew pitched in with the silkie chickens, ducks and a simm cow/calf pair.  I had a local screenprinter make up 52 shirts and my students made enough money last year during their "punkin carvin contest" to have an awesome lunch that one of the Dads volunteered to grill up for us.  I am putting a link to the slide show at the bottom.  If you get a chance to take a peek, please feel free.  These kids deserve more credit than many people in the building give them! 

http://www.mcdonaldco.k12.mo.us/mchs/newWhiteRock/agday.html 

 

[COd]

Sounds like you have a great bunch of kids. (clapping)

 

[coachmac]

They are pretty good.... but like everyone..... they have their moments!  They hit it out of the park on Tuesday though! 
Thank you for checking out the show! 

 

[AAOK]

It's SO refreshing to see an Ag chapter having activities, and a teacher who obviously teaches.  In our area the Ag teachers are the most overpaid in the school system. We never see anything like what you have helped your students accomplish.  Great Job coachmac!!!  Congratulate your kids for me too!

 

[coachmac]

Thank you for the kind remarks AAOK  The kids I teach are future FFA kids.  At least that is the purpose of the JH program.  It started out as a temporary Elective to replace Home Ec., but 12 years later..... we are like the energizer bunny......... going and going and going.  There are six JH schools in our district and I teach at two of them.  Ironically, a big part of the FFA Chapter are former students.  Ag Day was started to give at least some of those kids a head start in the areas of Public speaking, species knowledge, and goal setting.  Not too mention, the smiles of the faces of the "lil" elem kids was enlightening!  It was funny, my daughter (4th Grade) had her heifer at the beef station.  Her teacher let her spend the morning at the beef station "taking care" of her heifer.  What ended up happening was Bailey talked about the Simmental breed, and her heifer, the first three classes that visited the beef station, without the three 8th graders that were suppose to speak saying a word.  Needless to say, I had to slow her roll a little bit so the older kids could ......earn their keep you might say.  During this years Regionals and National Jr show, she really got the bug to speak.  Fun to watch!   

 

[oakbar]

Good job, CoachMac!!        You can usually tell the quality of the teacher by how much credit they give their kids and how much they let the kids participate in the teaching.  Sounds like you have a great program going!!   

 

[firesweepranch]

Hey Coach, is that like the "Food for America" program that the FFA high school program puts on? When I was teaching high school ag (before I started teaching college), we did something similar to this. We had 9 stations, and made butter and ice cream with the elementary kids (which they got to eat), taught them about fur mammals in Missouri, had stations just like you did with cattle, chickens, goats/sheep, and a dog demonstration (heeling cattle), along with a station about forestry and horticulture so kids would know how important they are to  Missouri agriculture (or California when I taught there).There was usually a tractor safety station too.  I made the students organize the entire event, and all stations had to have a hand out for the teachers to take back to the classroom to reinforce the lesson they learned (from a word search of the terms used to a coloring page - depending on the age). I was always amazed at what my students pulled off, as was the principal and superintendent of the school. I really miss those days. LONG LIVE THE FFA!
BTW, neat presentation. Who grew the huge melon and pumpkin? Great seeing you on a horse.... I bet the kids liked that!

 

[coachmac]

Aussie - Thank you very much!  I appreciate the ..... assist!  <beer>

Oakbar - Thank you!  It is rather refreshing how much time and effort these kids put into this.  A year ago.... I was ripping them pretty good about some immature stunt they pulled in another teachers class and told them that next years Ag Day was, very possibly, a no go..... just because I couldnt trust them to pull it off.  I had to eat a little crow on that one and apologized to them for the soapbox rant,  one year later.  Funny, they couldnt believe I remembered that day...... and I couldnt believe they remembered!  LOL 

FSSR - Similar, yes, but with some personal touches that suits the age level and demographic of the kids in the Elem.  We passed out packets with stuff donated from different breed registries, companies, and government agencies that the kids got too take home after the event was held.  There was also ton of stuff in each bag like recipes for home, Food pyramid info.,many, many pencils, pens, erasures, stickers, Missouri Conservation Material, and the local electric coop pitching in as well. We gave the teachers a packet for use in their rooms that included coloring pages, various lesson plans, and a page listing websites that they can utilize in their classrooms at their leisure.  H2O Melon and Monster Punkin were grown by a parent.  Pumpkin - 921 lbs and the Watermelon - 192 lbs.  I really enjoy my filly.  She is a HWood Dun It and smart doesnt do her justice.  She is a true joy!  Just dont get too ride as much as she needs!  Ahyhh the kids..... there is really nothing I do that surprises them anymore.  They just shake their heads and giggle!    <rock>