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Gold Country students fete farms
 Using torches to weld are (from left) Charlie Revord, 15, and Johnny Lindsey, 17, both sophomores at Sonora High School. Maggie Beck/Union Democrat, copyright 2012 Activities got under way nationally Saturday and will continue through next Saturday.
Chickens, rabbits, pigs and other farm animals will make an appearance at Bret Harte High School on Wednesday morning as part of a petting zoo for elementary school students. Calaveras High School’s FFA students will also organize a petting zoo for youngsters on Thursday. Meanwhile, Sonora High School’s Agriculture Boosters will host a fundraising dinner on Friday night at the Sonora Elks Lodge. The schools have planned a variety of other events during school days, including lunches for Bret Harte High and Calaveras High staff and noon activities at Sonora High. On Sunday, Bret Harte High FFA students went to two grocery stores and set up displays with little-known facts about common fruits and vegetables, according to agriculture teacher Roy Beck. The students set up a “Kiss the Pig” competition for today to raise money for the Calaveras County Fair. Bret Harte High teachers had jars for donations in each classroom, Beck said. The teacher whose students donated the most money will have to kiss a pig. The second-place winner will kiss a goat, and the third-place winner will kiss a chicken. Calaveras High recently received a $2,500 grant from the national FFA’s Food for All program to set up a community garden on the county fairgrounds, according to Calaveras agriculture teacher Jason Weatherby. This year’s FFA Week will give Sonora High students a chance to learn about the new agriculture classes coming to the school next fall, Sonora High teacher Stan Kellogg said. Currently, the agriculture department only offers classes in agriculture mechanics. Next year it will also offer agriculture earth science and farm business management. Kellogg said he hopes the new classes will attract students who want academic preparation for college. All students who enroll in agriculture classes automatically become part of FFA, which is a national organization dedicated to agriculture education and leadership. Sonora High has about 160 students in FFA, a third of whom are fairly active in the organization, Kellogg said. Bret Harte High has 200 students in FFA, and Calaveras High has 221. In addition to giving students the opportunity to do guided farming projects and learn about agriculture careers, FFA focuses on outreach and student leadership. “A lot of people think that FFA is cows and plows,” said Bret Harte High junior Haley Warner. “But it’s really not. It’s about being a leader and getting agriculture into the community.” Warner is the president of Delta Cal FFA, a division that includes 16 schools across two counties. She has already been selected to serve as a committee chairperson during the state FFA conference in April, which is a big honor, according to Beck. “My dream would be to major in political science and law and minor in agriculture communications,” Warner said. “I want to be an advocate for agriculture.” Warner said that FFA has given her the opportunity to make friends, work with a team and learn public speaking. Maya Fleck, another Bret Harte High student, will represent the school in impromptu speaking at a regional competition. “It helps them with speaking later on for job interviews, and presenting themselves in front of people,” said Kathy Stegall, a member of Sonora High Ag Boosters. Stegall’s daughter graduated from Sonora High in 2009 and is now studying agriculture education at California State University, Chico, thanks in large part to her own experience in FFA. The week of George Washington’s birthday was designated as National FFA Week in 1947 at a National FFA Board of Directors meeting. FFA Week always runs from Saturday to Saturday, and includes Feb. 22, Washington’s birthday. |
