If you think there is nothing cuter than a kindergartner petting a cute, fuzzy chick, you are probably right. At FFA Farm Day, May 3-4, 2023, at Sunridge Middle School, all of the kindergartners from the Pendleton Early Learning Center had the chance to pet a tiny chick and learn a lot about agriculture in Eastern Oregon.

Farm Day was organized by the FFA students at Pendleton High School, with help from students in the agriculture class at the middle school. Kylee Hunt, Agriculture Instructor at Pendleton High School, said the event is a good opportunity for her students to be role models and leaders for younger students in the district, plus “FFA is a great chance to share about our local agriculture, which I don’t think a lot of kids know.”

The students from the PELC rotated around eight different stations that offered a wide variety of animal and plant lessons. At the steer area, they could see a steer and a calf and the FFA students talked about dairy cows and beef cows. The three-month-old pig at the swine station was a big hit with the five- and six-year-olds, as were the sheep and goats. Before they got to pet the fuzzy chicks, they learned about the life cycle of a chicken and got to see eggs of all different colors.

At another station, the kindergartners got to make “dirt buddies” which were pieces of nylon filled with dirt and grass seeds that they can take home to grow. Another popular station was the “Commodities in Oregon” which had a large whiteboard where high school students led the young ones in figuring out where crops like wheat, watermelon, potatoes, grapes, and Christmas trees grow in the state.

All in all, a sunny day of learning on the green grass seemed like a great experience for the youngest to the oldest students in the Pendleton School District.

In addition to students from the PELC, first graders from all three elementary schools in the district also attended Farm Day. Wednesday evening was a community night for people to bring their children to explore all the different stations.