Second graders visit North Harford; Food for America day tradition continues

Amy Grace is a second grade teacher.
She loved seeing her young students so
engaged at the Food for America event.

Summer Grace

Amy Grace is a second grade teacher. She loved seeing her young students so engaged at the Food for America event.

SUMMER GRACE VICTORIA HANNA, Reporters

On May 2- 3, the Ag department hosted second graders from Harford County for their annual Food for America
event. Mrs. Aimee Densmore and Mrs. Dana Morton were the teachers in charge of overseeing the execution of
the event.
This event has become a year-to-year tradition at North Harford High School. Future Farmers of
America has been at North Harford since 1951. This is the FFA’s 13 year of hosting this tradition. There
are two sessions that occur (spring and fall) that are two- days long for a total of four days. This year there were
about 25 stations and around 2,200 second graders
in total visited.
Densmore adds many different schools came together during these two days, such as Jarrettsville, Forest
Hill, Bel Air, Norrisville, Church Creek, Bakerfield, Homestead Wakefield,, North Harford, Fountain Green
Elementary, Churchville, Magnolia, Deerfield, Youth’s Benefit, and Edgewood. These students split into many
different groups for the hour and a half they were here and were educated on topics such as the importance of
General Agriculture, Animal Science, Plant Science and Horticulture, and Safety and Environmental Stewardship.
“This program aligns with their curriculum and they learn an appreciation for agriculture.’’
There were many interactive stations set up for the students, including milking a model cow and closely
observing various species of livestock and small animals including horses, cows, hogs, sheep, goats, rabbits,
poultry.
Also, newders as well. this year was the fishing station. ‘’Most students had never been fishing before,’’ says
Densmore. Various farm equipment was also on display for the second gra
Along with the reptile station and the Aquaculture lab station, there were also stations for every animal in
the barn like the one at the pig barn and other ones for animals students brought in. However, the stations
weren’t just for animals, there was also stations by the greenhouse, pond and bee hives.
Most of the teachers attending this event thought Food for America day was a great experience for
the students. Second grade teacher Amy Grace says, ‘’It was wonderful for our students to explore their
community and participate in so many hands-on learning experiences.’’ Grace also comments, ‘’I was very
impressed with the NHHS dedication to the program. They did an outstanding job engaging out second graders!”
In addition to the teachers thinking this is a great opportunity, the FFA students who ran the event also said they
learned a lot from this experience. Treasurer Chloe Romm says, ‘’This was honestly really fulfilling. I really enjoyed
reading to the little kids and just showing them what agriculture is about.’’
Densmore said the best part of the day was seeing how her students and other students interacted with the
second graders. Junior Christian Hanna said the best part of the day was hanging out with friends and talking to
other students in the programs. Freshman Teagan Flaherty says that the best part of her day was “being able to
talk to the kids about what we do at our school.” She says, “I always love talking about ag and FFA so being able to
teach kids who have never seen a cow or horse was very special.”
The small groups were led by all students, whether it was by themselves or with other students. Flahety
says, “Everyone was very friendly and the kids enjoyed the school, we would usually work two schools everyday.”

Over the course of just two days there was over a thousand second graders from 14 different elementary
schools. These kids came with little to no knowledge on where their hamburger or scrambled eggs came from and
left with a much more expanded knowledge of where the food, they eat every day comes from.