Oly South Students Get Ear Full About Corn

By Carson Goff, OHS Torch reporter

On Friday, October 23, Olympia Agriculture class students visited Olympia South elementary school to present during the Harvest day celebration; the students taught the kids about corn’s life cycle and many uses.

The high school agriculture students presented to twelve groups of children throughout the day. They taught the kids about the many uses of corn, such as providing food for animals and people along with providing fuel for children.

“I thought it was a really great learning experience for the kids,” said senior Genna VanWye, a presenter from the ag class. “I believe that all the kids learned a lot and it was interesting for us as well, we had to adapt to the age of the students and it was really fun watching the little kids faces change when we said that corn was in the tootsie roll they just ate.”

The harvest day celebration is a time for kids to learn about what is going on during the fall and what the farmers do to provide for them. In past years, the Oly Ag classes have presented on tractor and farm safety.

“I feel that teaching kids about corn is more beneficial to them, rather than teaching about farm safety,” said Senior Kelsey Slager, who has presented in past years. “Not every kid gets to be around farm equipment all the time, so by teaching about corn I think that the kids could relate more because it affects them more.”
​

The kids were shown diagrams of growing corn plants, as well as actual stalks from the field. Every student got the chance to hold and inspect their own ear of dent corn. Also kids were given tootsie rolls and asked to keep the wrapper; the first ingredient is corn syrup. By having a real life application. the kids were able to realize that not everything corn is in looks like corn.

“I am pleased with how the agriculture students adapted to the different ages of kids,” said Ag teacher Mr. Hoffman, “That can be one thing we work on for the future, as I plan on taking students to present as the need arises.

“I also feel that by presenting to the kids in different ways the ag students are learning the material better too, things that presenters didn't know much about previously know they know,” said Hoffman.