Washington FFA visits local schools, nursing homes Friday

Washington High Schooler FFA members took a break from their classes on Friday, April 26, to bring their animals to Stewart Elementary, St. James School, Halcyon House and the UP Home.

Washington FFA sponsor and ag ed teacher at the high school, Trent Steinhart, said the special day is something they do every year and one both the high-schoolers and the guests at each location look forward to. On Friday there were nine stations set up with animals varying from turkeys to horses to rabbits to goats.

Washington High School junior Olivia Pacha said she remembered FFA students bringing animals to her when she was a kid and was excited to be on the giving end this time.

'It's cool to show the kids and give them new experiences,” she said.

Steinhart said having the high-schoolers there to show the kids the animals brings a new awareness to the students because if they have animals at home, they are pets and not farm animals.

'A lot of the kids don't have the opportunity on a regular basis to see all the different animals we have,” he said. 'It's just agriculture awareness and it's a nice time of year. The kids enjoy the animals and our kids enjoy showing off what they have for projects.”

Stewart Elementary Principal Adam Miller said FFA day is a fan-favorite at the school and one the students look forward to every year.

'They always look forward to it. They like that they can get real close and get their hands on the animals. They did ask if there was going to be a giraffe today, (so) I had to disappoint them; that is not a farm animal,” he said with a laugh. 'They were very excited.”

He said a large majority of his students do not live on farms or have access to farm animals, so by the FFA students being willing to bring them to the students, it heightens the experience for them.

'A lot of our students, even though we're in a rural area, they don't have an opportunity to go out to a farm and be able to see the agriculture that is in this area,” he said. 'So it's really great for kids who don't get the opportunity to go out to farms, to see what our county and community has to offer.”