Youngsters discover life on a farm at annual MTSU Ag Education Spring Fling

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Melinda Crook marveled at the joy and fun the schoolchildren from Mitchell-Neilson Elementary and other schools were having recently in the Tennessee Livestock Center on the Middle Tennessee State University campus.

At the MTSU School of Agriculture Ag Education Spring Fling, Crook, assistant principal at Mitchell-Neilson, knows her school’s youngsters live in downtown Murfreesboro and likely have never been to a farm.

A Middle Tennessee Christian School elementary student begins to pick fruit and vegetables in the Little Acres area — one of numerous stations that were part of the April 16 School of Agriculture Ag Education Spring Fling recently at the Tennessee Livestock Center on Greenland Drive in Murfreesboro, Tenn. By day’s end, 800 youngsters discovered what farm life is like during their field trip. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

At the event, where an MTSU agritourism class of 21 students oversee a series of stations — “Little Acres” with vegetables, milk and animals, farm equipment, barnyard playground and more — that entertain the pre-K through third graders for two hours on a warm spring day Tuesday, April 16.

Children traveled from Middle Tennessee Christian School, Campus School, Roy Waldron, Smyrna Primary, Kittrell and Mitchell-Neilson for the field trip that included crafts, bee and honey area, a hay maze and baby chicks.

Melinda Crook, assistant principal at Mitchell-Neilson School — Melinda Crook

Olivia Hart, 7, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., a first grade student at Mitchell-Neilson School — Olivia Hart

“Our students have never seen anything like this. This is a great experience for them,” said Crook, watching them collect plastic fruit and vegetables with their pails in Little Acres before getting a small cup of MTSU Creamery chocolate milk. “We’re grateful for this opportunity.”

Olivia Hart, 7, a Mitchell-Neilson first grader, said she had “seen a lot of hay.” When asked what had been fun, she said “going through the maze (of hay bales) and I’m excited about seeing the baby chicks. It has been an awesome day, and my Momma (Andraiana Jefferson) is here.”

Dressed in a bee costume, retired Middle Tennessee State University School of Agriculture executive aide Debbie Strobel discusses bees and how they make honey with Middle Tennessee Christian School elementary students attending the annual School of Agriculture Ag Education Spring Fling on April 16 in the Tennessee Livestock Center on the MTSU campus in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

Middle Tennessee Christian School elementary students wait their turn to enter the Little Acres area featuring vegetables Tuesday, April 16, in the Middle Tennessee State University Tennessee Livestock Center on Greenland Drive in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Alanna Vaught, right, event director and School of Agriculture lecturer, has them perform a counting exercise while they wait. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

Partnerships, Farm, Farm Life, School of Agriculture, Agriculture, Ag Education
Spring Fling, Pre-veterinary, Agriculture, MTSU Creamery, Tennessee Livestock Center, Alanna Vaught, Elementary Schools, Middle Tennessee Christian School, Campus School, Roy Waldron, Smyrna Primary, Kittrell, Mitchell-Neilson Elementary, Plant and Soil Science, Rutherford County Farm Bureau, Rutherford County Co-Op, Grants, MTSU Public Service Grant, MTSU, Middle Tennessee State University

Junior Sarah Pfenning, a plant and soil science major from Nashville, Tenn., with two prior degrees and planning to pursue her master’s in agricultural education leadership. — Sarah Pfenning

Leading the agritourism class, junior Sarah Pfenning, a plant and soil science major from Nashville, Tenn., with two prior degrees and planning to pursue her master’s in agricultural education leadership, called the event “organized chaos, but with fun. I spoke to some parents and they appreciate the event happening because they probably won’t ever visit a farm again.”

MTSU senior pre-veterinary major Calliope Fisher of Rockvale, Tennessee, and an event volunteer, said she had “many memorable conversations with kids regarding chickens and their favorite thing about them, to which most of them replied chicken nuggets. Such a joy to be around those kids.”

Calliope Fisher, right, of Rockvale, Tenn., helps local schoolchildren delicately hold baby chicks that were part of the annual Middle Tennessee State University School of Agriculture Ag Education Spring Fling on April 16 at the Tennessee Livestock Center on Greenland Drive in Murfreesboro, Tenn. “It was so special to watch the kids get excited about learning about farming and animal agriculture,” said Fisher, a senior pre-veterinary student and native of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

Dr. Alanna Vaught, instructor in the School of Agriculture — Dr. Alanna Vaught

Before students began arriving by bus, Alanna Vaught, event director and School of Agriculture lecturer, told her agritourism class that “today is going to change somebody’s life and hundreds of kids’ lives for the better, and there is not anything much more rewarding than that.”

Rutherford County Farm Bureau, Rutherford County Farmers Co-Op and an MTSU Public Service Grant provided support for the event. Nearly 90 volunteers assisted.

The School of Agriculture is one of 11 College of Basic and Applied Sciences departments. To learn more, visit https://mtsu.edu/agriculture/index.php or call 615-898-2523.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)