ALLENTOWN, Pa.— Hundreds of fourth-grade pupils from Allentown area schools are learning how to milk cows, churn butter, and even shear sheep, thanks to a two-day event at Allentown Fairgrounds.
The third annual Agricultural Education Days is being held by Lehigh County Agricultural Society at the fairgrounds' Agri-Plex.
Agricultural Society President Bev Gruber said the event's importance can be illustrated by one student at a previous year's event, whom she said she'll never forget.
"This was at a station where they were learning how to make apple sauce — and his eyes got about as big as saucers and he said, 'That apple makes apple sauce!'" Gruber said with a hearty laugh.
"He never had any idea that an apple could be made into applesauce. So that makes it worthwhile."
Stations
The fourth-graders walked into the Agri-Plex through bales of hay and scanned the room with wide eyes. Inside the giant building, they were met with about a dozen stations, each staffed with people from a specific domain of agriculture.
At one, there were beekeepers, teaching kids about how honeybees make honey. Another, a plastic cow with a rubber udder, where kids learn how to milk a cow and shake butter.
Another was an Olympic-style competition in which children competed to see how far they could throw a small bale of hay — that appeared to be more just for fun than for education.
Some of the stations featured live animals. One of those was operated by Roger and Nancy Bowman, who own a sheep farm, and were there to teach kids about wool.
"I set the goal, and worked toward it. It took me a long time, but I got there. I think, you know, you got to stick with it. If you have a goal you want, you got to stick with it and work at it. And many times, most times, you can achieve that."Roger Bowman, Shepherd and co-owner of Winterside Farm
Roger Bowman, who said he spent much of his career as a middle school teacher, said he always dreamed about starting a farm.
He said he didn't grow up on one but had admired them since he was younger.
"I set the goal, and worked toward it," he said. "It took me a long time, but I got there. I think, you know, you got to stick with it.
"If you have a goal you want, you got to stick with it and work at it. And many times, most times, you can achieve that."
But Bowman, 77, said with a laugh, "I'll probably never be a basketball player. It's got to be a reasonable goal."
Bowman said he wakes up around dawn every day (earlier, when he was younger) to tend to the sheep, and his last vacation was in 1997.
'Everybody eats'
Gruber said the goal of Agricultural Education Days isn't necessarily to push kids into agricultural industries when they grow up, but more just to teach them important things that relate to their lives.
"Everybody eats," Gruber said.
One of the students in attendance, fourth-grader Julianna Georges, appeared blown away by how much she was learning.
"It's awesome," Julianna said. "I get to learn a lot and get to do cool stuff."
Asked what she wanted to be when she grows up, her go-to answer, she said, is doctor — but after today, she said she would consider looking into being a farmer.
The most important thing she learned today, in her words, was "to have fun."
Agricultural Education Days runs through Wednesday and is set to be back again next year.
