"Barnyard Day" Wraps Annual FFA Week at Hermann
by Jessica Nelson
The annual FFA week wrapped up at Hermann High School Friday afternoon with the FFA chapter's annual “Barnyard Day.” With FFA members bringing in livestock of their own, elementary students from Hermann and St. George School, along with other younger children, are given the chance to see farm livestock up close and learn a little bit about the livestock.
Hermann FFA advisor Tracy Vedder, along with advisor Lisa Grosse, coordinate “Barnyard Day” each year and students eagerly await the event.
“The kids definitely look forward to it. I had an art teacher e-mail me earlier this week that she was trying to teach a specific lesson but
couldn't because the kids were talking about seeing the cows and animals at Barnyard Day this week,” said Vedder.
FFA members arrived at 7:30 a.m. Friday morning with their animal(s) and were given their assigned pen area; the tables and pens are provided by Grosse and Vedder while students bring the straw or other bedding to be used during the day. To make sure there aren't three of one kind of animal and only one of another, Vedder says students sign up well in advance of the day for what they'd like to bring.
“The kids sign up a month in advance and we go through the list and make sure we don't have too many cows or too many horses,” said Vedder. “We pick who gets to bring what and try to spread it out so the same person isn't bringing the same thing every year.”
Grosse drove a school bus from the high school to the other schools, picking up different classes throughout the day and taking them back when their time with the animals was over. Group leaders took four to five of the younger students from station to station, showing them the different animals on display.
Though she has never seen any tears from the little kids who have come to the day, Vedder says she has seen some hesitation.
“Most are really eager but I have seen a few today who won't pet an animal,” said Vedder. “They want to go up and see it but not pet it.”
FFA members Brianna Englert and Megan Bockting stood inside a pen of two calves, owned by Bockting, and waited as more students unloaded off the bus. To Bockting, this is a good way for kids who otherwise probably wouldn't have the chance to see livestock.
“A lot of kids don't get to see them or touch them,” said Bockting. “It's a really good experience for the kids.”
Response from the FFA members has been very positive according to Vedder and it's something they enjoy helping put on for younger kids.
“Some of them raise the animals at home so they can kind of showcase what they do. These are also some of their supervised agriculture experience [SAE] projects,” said Vedder. “Kids that lead the students around enjoy interacting with the little kids.”