Ag Field Day
On a gorgeous October morning, 277 fourth graders, their teachers, staff, school administrators, and special guests gathered at the WL Hanger in Chilhowie for our Annual Ag Field Day. The students rotated through 17 stations with topics ranging from Sheep to Beef to Ag Careers.
The students and teachers look forward to this event each year, but frankly, it would not be possible without the generosity of our volunteers who offer their time and expertise to bring each station topic to life.
We also are indebted to the family and staff of WL Farm for the use of a fantastic facility and the Farm Bureau Ladies Committee for feeding our volunteer’s lunch.
The day and the lessons learned help to reinforce SOLs in Science and Virginia History, plus it helps to shine a spotlight on Smyth County’s largest industry!
Watershed Field Day
Watershed Field Day is a collaborated VCE/4-H program with the Smyth County School System that has been taking place in Smyth County for 11 years for all 6th graders to enjoy. This collaborated event helps cover approximately 20 SOLs in an untraditional classroom setting. Students rotate through 24 stations at our local park that houses the Middle Fork River. Each rotation prepares a short lesson/activity for students to understand concepts and connections that our water/watershed has with organizations, animals/plants, and lifestyles. Some of the stations included in this year’s events were hydroponics, native fish, wetlands, animal pelts, and Macro-invertebrate hunts. This event takes a village to run and, year after year proves its worth for the students of Smyth County to enjoy! Thank you to all our partners and volunteers!
4-H Educational Texas Trip
At the beginning of October four Smyth County 4-H teens went on an interesting trip to Texas with several other Southwest Virginia 4-H Counties. They traveled from Virginia to Texas and back touring a bunch of cool places. The initial intent of this trip was to support the Lee County Cookie Cutters Food Challenge team as they went to the national food challenge. However, it evolved quite a bit more from that.
During the Texas trip, they toured the Hot Springs National Park where they learned about the history and medicinal purposes of the springs. When they made it to Texas, they got to enjoy the Texas State Fair and watch the Lee County cooking team place 3rd in the nation. The teens toured the Tobasco Factory where they got to see the Tabasco process from start to finish. The teens also got to experience the oldest working rice mill in the United States, Conrad Rice Mill. In addition to those opportunities these teens also experience Magnolia Market, a mobile food truck tour, out-of-state 4-H Centers, livestock exchanges, and much more. These teens certainly experienced a 4-H trip they will never forget and are so grateful for their sponsors and supporters!
4-H Pumpkin Project
Our Annual 4-H Pumpkin Project kicked off at the beginning of this month were every 4th and 5th grade student we challenged. This project revolves around youth taking a real or fake pumpkin and creating a masterpiece out of it. There are a couple of rules these students must follow to qualify for extra credit and 4-H ribbons. Those rules are no carving/hole poking, keeping it within a 13X13 area, writing a short creative story, and keeping it school appropriate. This project has slowly become a staple project for the students of Smyth County in 4 and 5th grade and has been around since 2017. This project allows students to express their self through artwork while still helping school teachers sharpen their student’s writing.
4-H Sewing & Cooking Workshops
October also kicked off our Sewing and Cooking Workshops that were designed for 5th to 8th grades. These two workshops were offered to help these dying trades. Sewing is something that most schools have eliminated from curriculum and cooking isn’t for it. Most people, if not all people, would consider both of these hobbies nowadays. However, in the 4-H world, we see them as life skills that student 4-Hers can carry on not just for themself but for future people. Life skills don’t just help us complete an activity or function. They help create self-awareness, critical thinking, decision-making, and much more. These workshops are a little more than halfway through and we are seeing higher levels of confidence from all of our students. Terminology, hands-on experience, variety, and good clear communication go a long way in generating confidence for youth that will allow them to carry on these life skills!
