About 80 students at Ridgecrest Elementary School had the opportunity to experience the State Fair of Oklahoma this year, many of them for the first time.
Each year, the Oklahoma State Fair sets aside four days for students in third through fifth grade to attend special learning centers at the fair. Some of the exhibits include hands-on lessons taught by Ag in the Classroom, a birthing center with young animals, historical exhibits and demonstrations, the City of AGtropolis with live animals and demonstrations, a student art exhibit and farm animals.
Makerspace teacher Charlene Rogers applied for a grant through the Oklahoma State Fair Academy so Ridgecrest students could attend.
“For me, it was important to take my fourth-grade students to the OK State Fair for all the opportunities they would not otherwise experience,” she said. “There were so many different things to see, do and touch that are not available in their everyday lives.
“We had the opportunity to visit a birthing center that had live juvenile animals, to see historical exhibits and demonstrations — my kids watched a lady create a piece of pottery using her foot to keep the wheel turning — watched horse and goat shows, and even saw the Oklahoma Student Art Exhibition where there were desserts made of paper that looked real. The bottom line is what is best for kids and I believe that providing different experiences is part of the equation.”
Students had the opportunity to see some things they had never seen before.
Isabella Downey, 9, said she enjoyed watching a woman train a horse and seeing a baby chicken hatch. “The chickens were so cute. They were laying down, so it must have been a long day,” she said.
Animals also were a big draw for Kaden Dodge, 10. “My favorite part was where we got to pet an insect. It looked like a scorpion, but it wasn’t. It was black and had a hard shell.”
Natalynn Barnes, 9, liked the animals also, but her favorite activity was going down a big slide.
“When I decided to go on one, it was a little faster than I thought. I was like, no, no, no,” she said.
Jakobe Luke, 9, tried out his entrepreneur skills by playing a game to create his own farm.
“You created your own farm and fed the plants and tried to top $1 million by harvesting the plants,” he said.
Jakobe also enjoyed the planetarium.
“We went in a room where we were looking up and saw the stars,” Jakobe said. “We saw what it looked like outside.”
Teacher Trina Glenn enjoyed watching her students.
“My favorite part was to watch their little faces light up,” she said.