Students from Ceres Unified School District’s elementary schools were treated to an outdoor classroom experience at the Ken Moncrief Agriculture Center to learn about various aspects of agriculture.
A combined 1,786 kindergarteners and first-graders attended CUSD’s annual Fall Festival, which was staged from 8:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. on Thursday and Friday.
Central Valley High School’s Agriculture Department hosted the event.
“It’s a very popular event in the district,» noted CVHS Ag teacher Austin Paddock. “It’s important. We try to make it as interactive as possible. The kids have a good time. I like to see how excited they get and they stay excited the whole time.”
Elementary students learned about all things ag-related while touring the district farm. They cycled through different workshop stations, sampled milk, snacked on cookies and posed for pictures with tractors prior to heading back to their respective school sites.
“I enjoyed planting the seeds,” Lucas Dual Language Academy first-grader Samuel Delgadillo said. “Milking the (fake) cow was also fun.”
Approximately 96 agriculture students from Central Valley High School volunteered at the festival. Among the presenters were Isabela Ayala, Valeria Diaz, Carlos Castaneda, Regina Cerda, Amber Jenkins and Aubrey Tyler-Pannell.
Jenkins and Tyler-Pannell shared their knowledge at the “Let’s Bake” exhibit while Castaneda and Cerda worked an exhibit on seeds.
Ayala and Diaz explained the importance of tractors at their exhibit.
“I love the Fall Festival,” commented Diaz. “It’s a really beautiful experience having the little kids come out. We enjoy seeing them excited and experience what we experience.”
Ayala said she enjoyed teaching the kids about aspects of agriculture and reported “seeing them have fun is making me have fun.”
“It’s a good experience for the kids,” added Tyler-Pannell. “It helps them learn more about agriculture.”
Spearheaded by Ken Moncrief, the district broke ground on the Ceres Ag Center – located behind Hidahl Elementary School at 2351 E. Redwood Road – during the 2009-10 school year. CUSD provided 6.5 acres of land, valued at $100,000 at the time of donation, for the farm and assistance in financing for a tractor that cost $25,000.
Moncrief installed shingles on the 3,000-square foot instructional/processing/storage building.
The center was later expanded with a swine barn, large livestock building and greenhouse.
High school students are in charge of planting, tending and harvesting row crops, fruits and vegetables for the district’s school lunch program.
“We do a lot to keep it running,” said Paddock, who is Moncrief’s successor.
