Be a Student for the Day!

The big day!

On July 12th, we opened our doors to some guest students who are interested in our programs and wanted to experience a day in the life of farm school. We had 6 guests and two parents that stayed the entire day.

Our day started off fairly routinely with a brief informational meeting. On a normal day, when students arrive, they put their bags and items in the appropriate places and then immediately head out for quick chores to be followed by a fence line walk. This walk serves two purposes. It allows us the ensure the fences are clear and it helps the students burn off a bit of morning steam before starting their day. And here’s where we hit our fist snag!

The fence we were checking on this day surrounded the field with the horses. I’ve suspected for many years that horses have a certain magnetic draw that irresistibly pulls you in and often wondered if I was somehow more deeply impacted by this than, say, the average person. Turns out, I’m not. What is normally a 15 minute walk took well over an hour as our entire group got sucked in by the herd.

At this point, we were quite a bit off schedule. No worries. We enjoyed the horses (and they seemed to like the unexpected attention) and then headed in to the classrooms. Our independent study and guided learning times had been gobbled up. Some students worked on learning to fly the drone during group time while others played a game. After lunch, we headed out to work on the farm projects for the afternoon.

Students divided up over three projects. One was to stretch and attach a new section of fence, one was to reclaim some used lumber by removing old nails, and the other was to work on the truck brakes. After farm work in the summer heat, some of the students and guests enjoyed a dip in the pond to cool off!

Our different open house was a successful event. We all enjoyed the time we spend together and I know I will be seeing all of these amazing young people again!