City Slickers

I was privileged enough to join Micah’s class as a parent volunteer. The program is designed to take kids who live in the city and show them what life is like on the farm. Unlike the movie of the same title, the kids weren’t joining a cattle drive with a strange cowboy; they were watching the border collies round up the sheep though. 

They also did some testing of the kids to find out how much they knew. One station had multiple grains and weeds and the kids had to figure out which was which. Micah's group bombed the test. He did, after all, have Chase and Ethan in his group. They got into a wrestling match on the bus in the same seat Micah was sitting in. Yup. That was the group I got to watch. Plus two girls. Then the kids saw different types of eggs, skulls, and watched a demonstration of sheep herding. After that the kids had the chance to pet some horses and sit down with a live auctioneer from Michener Allen Auctions.

After this we all got shipped out to Stony Plain at the Pioneer Museum. They have a field there with a massive Gleaner combine that the kids all watched from the stands. The chaff rained down on the children who were supposed to be doing the wave with a piece of bread and a carton of milk in their hands chanting, "Now we know where food comes from!" It was a funny sight. And chaotic. Schools from all over Edmonton and area were there. Most kids ate the bread and drank the milk before they could lift their arms because half of them hadn't eaten lunch yet. They were filming this as a teaching tool for schools in Southern Alberta. A tip for you guys - feed children before you make them do tricks. They may not do what you've asked, but at least they'll be happy...

This lower left photo down the Greystone Grade 5 rows. Brekan is the closest one to me. We call him "mini Shaun" after my cousin whom he looks an awful lot alike. Micah went to his sleepover birthday recently. On the right is a guy showing the kids how they used the threshing machine as they took the stooks and tossed them in. I had to take a picture of the one tractor they were trying to get into place. It was a Hart Parr - and it made me think of my Grandpa Janzen.

Micah's group is the crazy bunch of five kids in the middle. And his seat mates got sent to the front of the bus and he got new ones. At the end of the day Micah got to skip out early and go home with me. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.