FFA members butter up students in East County

Danielle Acosta, a third grade teacher at William H. Bashaw Elementary School, led her students in the “Macarena” dance — but with a twist.

While dancing, Acosta and her third graders were shaking a small container of heavy whipping cream to turn it into butter as Braden River High School Future Farmers of America students were teaching them about butter. 

About 105 Bashaw Elementary third graders learned about agriculture and science from Braden River FFA students March 11 during six activities that included coloring eggs, beef Bingo, petting Dorothy the heifer and planting butterhead lettuce seeds. Bashaw students walked to Braden River to participate.

“We feel it’s important at a young age to show them an interest in where their food comes from and expose them to ideas they might not have gotten to see yet,” said Karly Cohenour, a Braden River agriculture teacher.

Students were engaged in every lesson at the six stations and enjoyed the different activities.

“We can learn while doing stuff that’s fun,” said Eva Schatz, a third grader.

Shaylynn Davis, a sophomore at Braden River, went to Bashaw Elementary and said she remembers her trip going to Braden River to learn from FFA students. Seeing Bashaw students be surprised by facts and have fun while making butter, she recalled having the same reactions to the activities.

“It’s cool knowing I used to react like that, and now I get to teach them about it,” Davis said.

Cohenour and Megan Roberts, a Braden River junior, both said teaching kids about agriculture at a young age will benefit them in many ways, such as knowing where their food comes from and how to take care of animals.

“I find it very important to share agricultural knowledge with the younger ones, especially because there’s so many misconceptions,” Roberts said. “A lot of kids don’t know what animal milk comes from, so I think it’s important to teach them the simple things like that before too much is misunderstood and false facts are spread.”

For some third graders, going to Braden River to learn about agriculture piqued their interest.

“I like working with animals and plants, so I’m pretty excited about learning more of it now,” said Eva Schatz, a Bashaw third grader.

Braden River freshmen Anslee Baker and Donovan Cinelli both said that they wish they had exposure to agriculture as children like the Bashaw students because the experience would have drawn them to agriculture earlier than high school.

The high schoolers also had an opportunity to gain more leadership experience because they managed the different stations.

“It’s a cool learning experience to learn how to interact with kids better,” Davis said. “It helps us leadershipwise.”