Rockridge High School hosts agriculture day for QCA elementary students
Students at Rockridge High School spent their Monday morning showing around 500 area elementary school students the ins and outs of hydroponic farms, farming equipment and farm animals to showcase life in agriculture.
The students brought their own animals and equipment to school, including goats and rabbits and John Deere farming equipment. The Rockridge High School students encouraged the young students and taught them the importance of agriculture.
“I was always a big plant nerd with plants in Ziploc bags on our window sill,” Charlie Edwards, a Rockridge High School junior, said. “Growing up you’re always thinking like ‘I want to be an astronaut,’ but there’s so many other options out there. I think ag day just really helps bring awareness to the agriculture community and all the different paths and jobs there are out there for everyone.”
Bringing what she’s learned about hydroponics to agriculture day, Edwards hopes to show kids around the area and show how interesting agriculture can be. Edwards’ hydroponic demonstration was featured, along with students bringing their own farm animals and farming equipment. “We’re bringing the kids out to hop up in the tractors,” Owen Bull, a Rockridge High School senior, said. “They always see them going down the roads, in the fields. Me, as a little kid, I’ve always wanted to go up into them, and some kids don’t have the chance to do that.”
Rockridge High School teachers say agriculture day happens because of the students who are passionate about the field. “I was so thankful that they said yes let’s do it,” Kirsten Kapraun, a Rockridge High School agriculture teacher, said. “They jumped right in. They planned it, they put it together, they came up with the lessons. They brought the animals and equipment. I really couldn’t have done this without them.”
Teaching the elementary school kids themselves, Rockridge High School students wish they had something like Agriculture Day when they were kids. “It’s definitely a really cool experience just because I didn’t know what hydroponics was until my sophomore year,” Edwards said. “Just to be able to tell these kids that there’s so many opportunities, so many things that I didn’t even know until my sophomore year.”
Students say they’re excited to keep teaching kids agriculture for years to come.
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