The Paulding SWCD 5th Grade Field Day is a county-wide event providing education to students on a variety of agricultural and conservation topics. Here, Curtis Young with OSU Extension of Van Wert County teaches students from Paulding Elementary about forestry during our 2016 event.
By: Patrick Troyer, Education Specialist The Paulding Soil & Water Conservation District is excited to announce that our annual 5th Grade Field Day is set for Friday, September 22nd at the Black Swamp Nature Center and Paulding County Fairgrounds. In the event that school should be cancelled due to fog, there is a backup date set for a week later on September 29th. This Field Day is for all 5th grade students from Oakwood, Paulding, Antwerp, and Payne Elementary as well as Divine Mercy Catholic School. The students will be divided into groups where they will visit and rotate between eight different stations throughout the day. They will be led by Paulding FFA Officers to their programs for the day. Sessions run for a total of 25 minutes. Students will spend the day learning about forestry, wildlife, water quality, farm safety, agriculture, geology, pollinators, and livestock. Speakers for each station are experts in their fields and the presentations will feature hands-on activities for the students. Providing the forestry session will be Curtis Young, Ag & Natural Resources Educator with OSU Extension of Van Wert County. Amanda Podach, Education Specialist with Fulton Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD), will provided the wildlife session taking students on a journey about native Ohio wildlife. The water quality session will have a new speaker and activity for 2017 as we will have Nicki Kale, Education Coordinator with Wood SWCD, who will teach students about the 4R Nutrient Principles (Right Source, Right Rate, Right Place, Right Time) by conducting an activity known as “Lake in a Bag”. In this activity, students will see just how quickly their “lake” becomes polluted by the many contaminants that enter our waterways.
The farm safety program will be conducted by Ed Bohn, Paulding County EMA Director. Ed will show students some very important tips when it comes to being safe around farm equipment as well as farm chemicals. A big thank you to Kenn-Feld Group for providing equipment for this demonstration. Sarah Noggle, Ag & Natural Resources Educator with OSU Extension Paulding County will provide programming for the agriculture session providing insight to students on locally grown products. The geology lesson will be provided by Robin Kraner of Stoneco who will take students on a journey through the wonders of Ohio’s amazing geology and some operations that take place at a stone quarry. The pollinator session is being conducted by Jamie Walters, a local beekeeper, who will emphasize the importance of pollinators to students as well as explain the process of producing honey and the many other products that come from bees. Lastly, Lisa Land and Heather Parrett from Cooper Farms will provide students with programming on livestock production and products produced from or by livestock. Students will be served lunch at the fairgrounds, which was made possible through sponsorships and donations to this countywide event. Each student will receive a 5th Grade Field Day commemorative t-shirt listing the sponsors of this event. The Paulding Soil and Water Conservation is very excited for this event as it will truly be a fun and educational day for the 5th Grade students in Paulding County. The Paulding SWCD would like to thank the following for sponsoring this very educational event for the students: Baughman Tile Company, Haviland Drainage, Williamson Insurance, First Federal Bank, Paulding Putnam Electric, Cooper Farms, Farm Credit Mid America, and the Van Wert County Foundation. Additional thanks go to the Paulding County Ag Society for use of the livestock barns for the event, Flat Rock Dairy of Paulding for donation of milk for lunch, and Ag Credit for donating water and napkins for the day. We would also like to thank the volunteers who have stepped forward to make this day a success such as the Paulding SWCD Board of Supervisors and their Spouses, Judy Wells, Joe Knight, Jacob Luderman, and the Paulding FFA Chapter for being our group leaders. Fifth Grade Field day would not be the success that it is without this support! Spreading and promoting the conservation message is a top priority of the Paulding SWCD. If you or your group would like programming provided such as this field day, feel free to let us know at 419-399-4771!
