Sparking curiosity: Owen County fourth graders learn agriculture safety up close

The Owen County Fairgrounds was abuzz with activity Oct. 7 as fourth graders from Spencer, Gosport, Patricksburg, and McCormick’s Creek elementary schools attended Ag Safety Day. The event, organized by the Spencer-Owen Community Schools (S-OCS) Agriculture Department with the help of Owen Valley FFA, showcases various agriculture related careers as well as safety information provided by local businesses and first responders. The event is meant to give students the opportunity to interact with aspects of these fields up close.

“The idea from our side was to bring different industries, different people, professionals that interact with different levels of safety that they might interact with in their daily lives, so it’s more applicable to them,” said Owen Valley agriculture teacher and FFA advisor Josh Schonfeld.

Students started off their morning with a demonstration from South Central Indiana (SCI) REMC. Several demonstrations of the dangers of high voltage electricity were shown using a model of typical power lines hooked up with actual powerline voltages. REMC linemen roasted hot dogs with electricity arcs, burned an orange from the inside out and set a tree branch on fire to the awe and excited murmuring of the attending students.

The students then separated into groups to hear from representatives from the Owen Valley Fire Territory, Owen County EMS, All Pro Tree & Land Service, Frye Towing and Recovery, the Department of Natural Resources, Strouse Farms & Trucking, and Diana Curry of Curry Farms.

The Owen Valley FFA was also on hand, volunteering as group leaders and helping to coordinate the fourth graders.

“We have a really involved FFA and we are trying to build on that,” said Owen Valley Middle School agriculture teacher and FFA Advisor Emili Weddle.

She also noted that a lot of different parts of the community had to come together to make the day a success.

“We have been planning and making phone calls and reaching out to our teachers, and community members,” she said. “They say it takes a village, and it literally does.”

The event is a variation of traditional “Ag Day” events hosted in the past that usually involved some sort of farm animal petting zoo. Now, instead, “Ag Safety Day” is a broader showcase of jobs within the agriculture field and safety demonstrations.

“Historically it’s been more of an education of agriculture in general,” said Schonfeld. “In my prior county, the safety aspect was always the focus because a lot of times [the kids] would already have pet an animal, they may have animals, but [they] may not know how to act around the greater aspects [of ag technology]. Most likely they are interacting with at least one industry professional safety item that they’ve probably never been around before.”

For a fourth grader, a field trip where they get access to heavy machinery and watch people interact with electricity is pretty exciting. At least Weddle thinks so.

“Every student loves a good field trip, especially a fourth grader,” she said, “but we just want them to be really involved, so to see the smiles on the kids, and for them to look at each demo… to see their smiles and to learn the information and the ag safety that we really want them to see…[to] kind of spark those interests and excitement.”

Local agriculture-related businesses that would like to participate in next year’s Ag Day event should contact the Owen Valley High School office at 812-829-2266 and ask to speak to the Ag Department.