I cannot
believe that it has already been a month since Stacey and I were in Calgary at
our week of training!! Needless to say the time and effort that we put into
that week have been very helpful in the last few weeks. I have been keeping
myself busy by delivering five school presentations and attending four 4-H
events across Saskatchewan the past weeks!
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| Students dressed up as people involved in the beef industry |
My school visits kicked off in
Landis talking to students in grades 2-5. All of the kids LOVED the workshop
that we prepared for them. The most enjoyable part hands down has been the
dressing up part of the workshop where we dress the students in costumes representing
the many people that are involved in getting beef from the pasture to the
plate. Then later that week I was off to my home town of Plenty and on Thursday
gave presentations on beef education to the grades 4/5 and then the grades 3.
Once again they all had a great time and showed a keen interest in the beef
industry and particularly what the cattle eat and how their digestive system
works. Not only have I given presentations to elementary students I also had
the opportunity to be the key note speaker at a Life Long Learning Event. All I
can say is WOW there is nothing that can prepare you for that! It was an
amazing, and nerve racking experience, but I am so happy that I had this
opportunity. To my surprise I was asked if I would consider ever being a key
note speaker for other schools because they thought that the opportunities I
have had through CJAA and SJAA have been so great and inspired the students to
take advantage of the opportunities presented to them and if they have a
passion to do their best and they will be rewarded.
After the week of school presentation I headed
down south to Ceylon Saturday and gave presentations at the Borderline Feedlot
Field Day. I had a rough start to the morning
with a flat tire but I still managed to get there on time. The 4-H youth
were split up into age groups of 6-10. 11-14, and 15-21. They circulated to
three different stations and at mine I discussed with them the benefits of a
heifer project and described to them what the CJAA and SJAA were and what they
had to offer.
Last Sunday saw me going back north to home and
attending the Handel Multiple 4-H Achievement Day. This is my old club so it
was awesome getting to go and talk to kids that I used to be in 4-H with! Not
only did I do a talk to the kids about the benefits of the heifer project I
also helped them throughout the day with team judging, juding cards ,etc.
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| Young 4-H member putting in his best effort |
To wrap up that busy weekend I travelled to the St. Walburg
Regional Show in northern Saskatchewan. There was strong Angus representation
at this show which was great to see. There were also a lot of heifer projects
as well as cow/calf projects. I spent the
day mingling with 4-H member and parents talking about the heifer project as
well at the CJAA and SJAA. There were a lot of members who were interested in
the junior associations so hopefully we will see some of them out at the junior
events within the next year! After the show I gave a presentation to the
members at the banquet about the heifer project. The parents told me that they
liked to see Angus representation at their show since there are so many
breeders up in that area.
This past Monday and Tuesday I was in
Lloydminster attending the 4-H Expo. It is such a great show and there are so
many 4-H members in attendance which I love to see! There are thirteen clubs
that attend that show making it one of the biggest regional shows in
Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Today I stopped in at Paradise Valley on the
way home and talked to an amazing group of grade three and four students! All of them were
knowledgeable about the beef industry and very interested in what 4-H has to
offer.
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| The future of the Angus breed |
4-H shows are getting into full swing and the
rest of my summer is filled up with numerous 4-H events and junior events! My
next stop is Spirit Wood for their Regional and then back home to my old
Regional show in Kerrobert. So far this experience has been so amazing and
rewarding and I am very thankful to have this amazing job with the Canadian
Angus Association!
Posted by Erin Toner Feedback: cdnangus@cdnangus.ca
