By Zoe Hester

Editor@dawsonnews.com

Dawson County High School’s Agriculture program hosted Ag Day for the students in Dawson County elementary schools last week which proved to be a time students of all ages came together to enjoy the experiences in the field of agriculture with learning as interactive as it could get.

Students in grades K-5 from each elementary school in the county came out to the high school Sept. 16-17 to see and experience the world of agriculture.

“Ag Day is where we invite all the elementary schools here to the school to see what we do, what we have and what they can experience and expect once they get into high school. We let them know what Ag industries are out there,” said Keith Pankey, FFA advisor and agriculture teacher.

The Ag program prepared exhibits and activities for the children to experience, including hands-on encounters with farm animals and equipment in order to teach the students about careers in the field they might be interested in pursuing.

“They love getting to see the animals. A lot of these kids have never seen a llama, they’ve never seen a miniature horse, and a lot of them have never been on a tractor. They are also doing calf roping and barrel racing. We have alternative agriculture here today like llamas, poultry and beef cows… we have a milking station so they can experience what it's like to milk a dairy cow. So they just get exposed to the different industries,” Pankey said.

Preparation for Ag Day was a learning opportunity for the high school students as well.

“The students help me plan out the stations and they run the stations. It’s totally student led,” Pankey said. “Once we get started I let them take charge. It’s a great leadership opportunity for them.”

“It is fun. You get to put your own twist on things because Pankey will give you pointers but other than that you can do it yourself,” Agriculture student Jacque Connor said.