Golden Apple: Intro To Ag Fair At Kelliher School Teaches Students Where Their Food Comes From

It started in their Intro to Agriculture class, where four high school students in Kelliher came together and had one goal in mind: to educate their community, specifically the school’s elementary students, in where their food comes from.

“The Intro to Ag girls decided that they wanted to teach the younger students where their food comes from, how it gets to their plates and what’s grown in our area. They went in, found all the local producers that they could find that were free today, and have them bring in their goods so that the kids could learn from them,” said middle school teacher Amy Mastin.

“The Ag” fair, which was planned by the Kelliher Intro to Agriculture high school students, was one way they could provide a visual representation on how food is grown. The fair featured local businesses like Hiltz Honey, Battle River Wild Rice, and more.

“We were talking about how some of the kids even in the class have not gotten to experience how their food is getting to them so we thought it would be interesting to teach the elementary about that, too. Like, how their food is grown and processed and how it gets here and they understand why it’s important to eat healthy and support their local farmers,” said student Riley Dreher.

But providing education on food production wasn’t the only thing that the Intro to Ag students wanted to learn about.

“They wanted to learn about cattle and feedlot management, feed conversions, so we purchased three steers, the girls own three steers just down the road from us at Neft Farm, they will go do chores at times, we’ve done craig checks with cattle, we’ve done vaccinations, they’re learning how to run a business right now, they’ve come up with their own logo, so our brand is on our shirts; they are also learning how to market products along with their cattle, it’s kind of a business operation and they’re running it like a business, but also a educational piece where we’re talking to the students and the other consumers about what we’re doing,” said Dreher.

Elementary students were able to rotate through stations, where they pet animals, learned about bees and honey, and took turns throwing a lasso.

“I’m learning about the Kelliher AG class and about different species of animals, it’s really important things in our lives because this is what feeds us and where our food comes from,” said elementary students Kate and Emily.

Besides owning their own cattle, the high school students also sell clothing products that supports their class.