Area kids enjoy VGCC’s fifth annual Farm Day
The Civic Center at Vance-Granville Community College’s main campus was filled with young children learning more about food and agriculture on April 14. Students in the Early Childhood Associate program at VGCC organized their fifth annual “Farm Day.” Some 464 four-year-olds from day care centers, schools, and Head Start facilities in Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties attended. The children enjoyed a variety of booths, manned by VGCC students who led children in activities, games, songs and stories that focused on farm life and nutritious eating. Upon their departure, the children were given small terrariums to help them learn about how plants grow. The event was co-sponsored by local Farm Bureau organizations in Franklin, Granville and Vance counties. Farm Day is an example of “service-learning,” an innovative teaching and learning strategy that integrates community service with academic instruction.
Special guests at this year’s event included Spencer Sweet Potato (courtesy of the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission), Willie the Squirrel (courtesy of North Carolina Farm Bureau) and Vance County 4-H, which provided live goats and sheep and educated children about how wool is made. As in the past, Vance County Farm Bureau provided artificial cows that helped children learn about milking. The Early Childhood students hatched their own chicks to bring to the event as well.
Each year, Farm Day seeks to introduce young children and their teachers to “Ag in the Classroom,” a statewide service of the North Carolina Farm Bureau. NC Ag in the Classroom is an educational program designed to provide teachers with quality materials to teach students of various ages, through North Carolina competency-based lessons, about the sources of their food and fiber, and the importance of agriculture to the economy. VGCC students selected lessons from NC Ag in the Classroom’s pre-school curriculum and set up their learning stations based on those lessons.
VGCC offers programs leading to certificates, diplomas and associate’s degrees in Early Childhood education. For more information, contact Jennifer M. Johnson , the head of the Early Childhood Associate program, at (252) 738-3408.
Above: Spencer Sweet Potato from the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission greeted children at VGCC’s fifth annual Farm Day on April 14. (VGCC Photo)
