By MAGGIE MCMURRAY
Moapa Valley Progress
Pumpkins began to dot the porches of many Moapa Valley homes last week. Much of that was thanks to the Moapa Valley High School Ag Farm.
The farm hosted over a week of daily field trips for students from local schools, schools in Las Vegas, and many area preschools. The Ag Farm also offered a pick-your-own pumpkin patch for anyone anyone in the community. The field trips and the pumpkin patch were both operated by local FFA students as part of their curriculum and as a fundraiser for their many trips during the year.
“This is an educational facility,” said local FFA Advisor Denise O’Toole. “It gives us an opportunity to teach kids about agriculture and where their food comes from, while allowing our FFA kids the chance to teach and be leaders.”
The pumpkins, squash, and melons are planted as a fundraiser for the FFA students, who frequently travel all over the state for competitions and learning events. Community turnout for the pumpkin patch is great every year because prices are reasonable and there are always FFA kids there to help you pick out a great decoration or piece of produce. They even carry it to your car for you.
“This is a great fundraiser for us,” O’Toole said. “We’re thankful to the community for supporting our program. It is fun for kids to get to come pick their own pumpkin straight off the vine, but it also allows our students to travel and attend learning opportunities.”
The farm also gives away hundreds of pumpkins for free. Every kid that comes to the farm for a field trip gets to take one home. Several teachers were heard admonishing kids to make sure and pick one out that they could actually carry home! O’Toole said that over the 6 planned days of field trips, well over 500 free pumpkins will be distributed.
Field trips to the ag farm encompass much more than pumpkin choosing. The kids go through several rotations that teach them different aspects of agriculture, mostly taught and led by FFA students, and even include a hayride.
The Clark County Farm Bureau also helps out with a demonstration of where milk comes from and how butter is made.
Cindy Hardy, the Nevada Farm Bureau State Women’s Committee Chair said, “We love to come because it helps kids find out that food doesn’t just come from the grocery store, but from farmers who produce it. They also begin to understand the work that goes into producing it.”
Stephanie Bunker, the Farm Bureau Clark County Women’s Chair agreed, saying, “A lot of times kids don’t get these hands on experiences. They get to churn butter and understand the connection between chickens and eggs.”
Another rotation took kids through the greenhouse, where they learned about plant production.
Yet another rotation was a kid favorite because it allowed some face-to-face experience with animals. Kids got to pet goats, a miniature horse, and rabbits.
Preschool teacher Jessica Minogue brought her class of 4-yr-olds. “We studied pumpkins and it’s great for kids to get hands-on experience,” she said.
Maylee Eide, FFA Secretary, summed up why these experiences are such a win-win situation. “It’s fun to work with the kids because after coming they’re so excited about Ag,” Eide said. “We see that excitement and it spreads back to us and we remember what a great opportunity we have to live around this everyday.”
