Ag in Color

The local White Sulphur Spring’s school has had somewhat of an eventful fall. From new administrators to keeping up with all sporting events, students have had an exciting year. While the school may be under different administrative control, several matters within the school have been longstanding traditions. These include activities like homecoming and the annual “Ag in Color” drawing contest. White Sulphur Spring’s school has classes and an extracurricular group (Future Farmers of America) in place to encourage agricultural development and education within the junior high and high school sections of the school. However, how is the White Sulphur Spring’s elementary promoting exposure of agriculture to the children in the Kindergarten through fifth grade? One activity this fall to enhance the idea of agriculture within the classroom is the “Ag in Color” contest. It is a statewide art event that kids in Kindergarten through the sixth grades are eligible to compete in (White Sulphur’s sixth grade, though, is now looped in with junior high). The event was created through the Montana Farm Bureau Federation who is working to promote agricultural literacy in the state’s schools through several programs. The Montana Farm Bureau Federation’s largest project to accomplish their agricultural education goal is M.Y. (Montana Youth) Agriculture Literacy. This resource is intended to give teachers adequate and up-to-par information on agriculture so that they may better teach Montana youth and bridge the gap between kids who are generational ranchers or farmers and children with no agricultural background. This all comes as an effort to keep agriculture awareness moving throughout the next generation’s upbringing. Which, in turn, has the ability to create future producers and advocates within the realm of agriculture and its branches. Locally, the Meagher County Farm Bureau is responsible for helping to circulate the Ag in Color contest throughout the county’s youth. The local chapter’s Vice President, Abbie Richardson, is responsible for the White Sulphur Spring’s Elementary School’s participation in the informational and fun contest. Additionally, the homeschooled children of the county have been informed of the competition. The Ag in Color Contest selects drawings based on creativity, agricultural content, uniqueness, neatness, and reproducibility. All grades have a different drawing prompt relating to Montana agriculture for students to follow. Kindergarten students have the prompt of “Farm Animals in Montana.” The first grade has “Grown in Montana,” while the second grade children are prompted with “Grains of Montana.” The third grade was selected to draw “Cattle in Montana,” and the fourth graders were chosen to depict “Noxious Weeds in Montana.” Lastly, the fifth graders of the state are tasked with “Safety on Montana Farms and Ranches” and the six grade students have the “Agricultural Careers in Montana” section. All submissions locally for the annual Ag in Color contest are to be turned into the Meagher County Farm Bureau by Friday, December 1. The local bureau then chooses winners to go onto to be judged at the state level against all other county winning drawings within the state. Following this, the final winning artworks are selected by the Montana Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee. The best drawings are printed onto several educational items and other usable objects to be displayed proudly throughout the state. Picture via mfbf.org