FFA Petting Zoo

By: Ashleigh Brawley

On February 25th and 26th, the Princeville FFA held a petting zoo for the Grade School, Junior High, and High School students. The event was set up so it was COVID friendly. Masks were worn at all times, and the kids came in waves so there was only one class at a time. In addition, hand sanitizer was put on children once they got into the petting zoo and put on once they finished going through the petting zoo. 

There were seven different types of animals at the petting zoo, including, goats, chickens, turtles, pigs, and a duck, cow, and lamb. Emmaline Perkins brought her chickens, Carrie Gill brought her duck, Sadie Bays brought two turtles, and Kyle Bird brought 3 pigs. Ashleigh Brawley brought her 3 goats, Aiden Hermann brought a lamb, and Kate Colgan brought a calf.

The petting zoo ran fairly smooth, with no major issues, except for a fainting goat getting stuck. Mr. Thole quickly came to the rescue with bolt cutters, and resolved the issue! Aiden’s little lamb, Shadow, was just like Mary’s in the children’s story. He followed Aiden around and cried when he left. Shadow was a big hit this year at the petting zoo. 

The students who brought in animals really enjoyed being able to talk and teach kids about their animals. Most of the kids actually retained what the students were teaching, and were sharing their new knowledge with friends, and likely their family when they got home. It was a good event to get young kids excited and interested in FFA. There was a lot of, “I want to be in FFA when I get older,” comments heard at the petting zoo! Everyone involved or attending was thankful that we could have the Petting Zoo this year. If you’re interested in FFA, sign up for an Agriculture class with Mr. Meisner next year!