On Tuesday morning October 21 about 40 FFA kids walked into the state fair children’s barnyard at seven am to help out with the animals. Overseeing the kids were Ms. Durdock and Ms. Riedel, both Ag. teachers. The kids participated in shifts while Durdock and Riedel advised on activities for the day.

“I was there from seven am to ten pm,” said Durdock, Ag. Ed. Teacher. In addition to helping in the children’s barnyard the students and Riedel will be helping in the garden. The garden’s theme this year is Frozen, the popular Disney movie.

“We usually do a twist on whatever the theme is,” said Reidel.

There were about 20 students from each Ag Ed. class and ten of them were FFA officers. Phoebe Ortega is the FFA president. Since she is the FFA president she gets the added responsibility to watch over FFA kids, and to let the other officers know what they need to do, Ortega also picks up the slack if someone doesn’t know what they are doing.

Ortega enjoys the fair and has participated in it for the past three years. Every year they have animals like goats or pigs or cows or bunnies. Students who work in the barnyard enjoy the added bonus of working with the animals. But it’s not all fun and games there is some work that needs to be done too.

“We take care of the animals which involves cleaning out their stalls, changing their wood shavings and giving them water and food,” said Ortega. “We have to feed them two times a day and we just keep them company, we also make sure kids don’t stick their hands in the cages because some of the animals are kind of feisty.”

Some of the students that go on the trip haven’t gone before and get to participate for the first time.

“I would definitely go back next year. I had so much fun and I can’t wait to go back [next year],” said Adriana Rodriguez, FFA member.

Students who work the fair are able to work either the barn or the garden and recommend both experiences.

“If you can go on the trip and are qualified [are an FFA member] to do so I recommend it because it’s fun, and you can do it for volunteer hours so that works too,” said Ortega.