By Blake Jackson
Last week, Northwest Missouri State University’s Agricultural Learning Center was filled with the cheerful sounds of children laughing, playing, and learning as the university hosted its second annual Ag Camp.
The three-day camp welcomed approximately 150 children, ages 5 to 10, from various parts of northwest Missouri and southwest Iowa.
“Ag feeds us, ag clothes us, ag makes sure that we live every single day,” said Emma Brushwood, a senior from Elsberry, Missouri, who helped launch the camp last year and led it again this summer. “I just want the kids to know where everything they use every single day comes from.”
Brushwood and four fellow agricultural education majors serving as summer interns for Agriculture Education on the Move used a classroom-based curriculum to guide participants through engaging, educational activities related to crops, animals, and agriculture.
Tuesday’s activities included making soybean germination necklaces and creating plastic from cornstarch, water, and oil. On Wednesday, the focus shifted to nutrition as campers made snack mixes with cereals and Skittles to study fats, proteins, sugars, and vitamins.
They also made butter, dissected a hard-boiled egg, and played interactive games like pin the tail on the pig and placing horns on a goat blindfolded.
Thursday offered hands-on experiences with live animals such as pigs, goats, sheep, and a calf. Campers also got a close look at agricultural machinery including tractors, balers, a corn treater, and a semi-truck while learning about farming careers.
Katijo Schaefer, a sophomore from Glasgow, Missouri, also participated as an intern after teaching the curriculum in Columbia-area elementary schools.
“I have a passion for teaching young minds, especially agriculture,” said Schaefer. “It holds a very special part in my heart.” She noted the value of practicing classroom management and adapting to each group’s needs. “Getting the experience of hands-on activities and kind of running with what is thrown at me because every class is different, every age group is different you have to really try to develop more ideas and different activities for each one,” she said.
Senior Meghan Hunerdosse of Indianola, Iowa, returned as a volunteer. “It was so much fun when Emma and I did it last summer, and I just knew we wanted to make it bigger and better."
Photo Credit: livingimages
Categories: Missouri, Education