From the pens of our most important clients: the students themselves! These fourth graders who attended Farm Field Days 2012 shared their favorite activity. Here’s what a few of them had to say:

I was excited to go to Farm Field Days because I was hoping to learn something new and I did. My favorite thing was finding what all was made from corn.

You never really think about bees, but they sure are working hard.

My favorite thing about the field trip was learning how to make the paper. I can’t wait to go home and tell my friends how to make it.

My favorite thing about Farm Field Days was making the corn into plastic. It was squishy!

We learned how to make cream into butter and had a tasty snack. It was GOOD!

I loved sticking things onto the big map of Virginia and learning where they growed.

The favorite thing I learned was that everything has corn in it, even things like makeup and plastic and crayons.

I liked seeing the animals because animals are awesome and sometimes even cute.

We got to test the soil for different types of nutrients.  Too much nutrient is bad!

It was cool how we all pulled on a crate to learn about horsepower.

I liked the Farmy Days because it was awesome. We got to pet so many animals and learn so many things.

My favorite thing was learning how to make yarn from sheeps wool and the reason why I liked it was cause I always wondered how to make yarn and the reason why I wondered was just because I wanted to know.

I guess everything was just so fun I don’t know a favorite.

We all had fun, we were nice to the animals, and we were all safe.

I don’t have a “favorite thing I learned”. All the things I learned were really neat. Except this really gross fact I learned: goats drink each other’s pee.

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We here at Prince William Soil & Water Conservation District aren’t the only ones getting excited for Farm Field Days next week. Here are what some of the fourth graders who will be attending tell us they are most looking forward to….

“I’m interested in plants and how they grow and all the things about them.”

“I want to learn how to make this environment better.”

“I’m excited cause I’m wondering how the farmers feed their animals.”

“I’m so happy because learning about farms is fun and I LOVE FIELD TRIPS.”

“I think there might be some fun experiments.”

“Whatever it is, it will be something I’ve never seen or learned before!”

And of course, “I can’t wait to see all the animals.!”

This year the Prince William Soil & Water Conservation District will be providing a reusable Farm Field Days bag filled with resources to each teacher who attends Farm Field Days. With 15 different schools coming from throughout Prince William County and Manassas City, we’re expecting just over 75 teachers– and that’s alot of bags to pack!

 

So we’re calling on volunteers to join us at the Prince William Soil & Water Conversation District office on Thursday, October 18 at noon to help us for a packing party. You supply the helping hands, we’ll supply the pizza. For information, email Laurie.

We enjoy quite a bit of community support to help make Farm Field Days a reality, and return think it is important for Farm Field Days to give back to our community. As part of the goal our Animal Barn will include the 2nd annual Lend A Helping Hoof program. We’ll be accepting donations for the Prince William County Animal Shelter. They have requested:

- Canned or dried food (Science Diet brand only)
- Towels, bedding, newspaper
- Toys & Treats
- Collars & Leashes
- 3×5 index cards & 8.5×11 copy paper
Last year, the students, teachers, volunteers, and staff attending Farm Field Days were able to gather two full boxes worth of donation. Let’s meet that goal again and show that we know how to lend a helping hoof!

We’ll be ordering our styling Farm Field Days shirts tomorrow. While we plan on throwing in a few extras for last minute volunteers if you would like to guarantee a shirt in your size send in your volunteer form before Friday, October 5. Check out our “For Volunteers” page to see what being a part of Farm Field Days is all about and to download a form.

Our 2012 Agriculture in the Classroom Workshop was our best yet. Twenty five elementary teachers gathered from across the county and the City of Manassas for two hours of fun hands on lessons and great resources. Not to mention it was a beautiful day on the farm, all topped off with a homecooked meal provided by the Fairfax/Prince William Farm Bureau Women’s Committee.

Especial congratulations to Pattie Elementary who won our fabulous door prize: a book barn fully stocked with agricultural books for their school library!

We hope this workshop helped get everyone fired up for Farm Field Days. We’ll be posting these and other agricultural lessons to our “For Teachers” page.

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Teachers & chaperones! Did you know you can BUY your very own Farm Field Days shirt. Show your style and pride with these yellow limited edition shirts. Only $10 a piece and all the proceeds go to support Farm Field Days!

 

Click here to download a t-shirt order form.

Our Sprouting Success workshop completely filled, so to accommodate this great response we have opened an additional five slots in the workshop. These are first come, first served, so please register now if you are interested.

Click here to register online

This workshop is free to all public, private, and homeschool elementary teachers in Prince William County and the City of Manasass. The program will be presented at Windy Knolls Farm on September 20, from 4:30-6:30 with a complimentary dinner provided by the Farm Bureau.

Thanks to our latest sponsor WalMart of Manassas for donating $500 to support Farm Field Days and recognizing the value of conservation education to our community.
Check out our “Thank EWE Very Much” page to see our other awesome sponsors and partners or email Laurie to find out how you can donate!