MARATHON, NY (WIVT/WBGH) – Marathon Central School District hosted a collaborative event between the school and the community to highlight the vastness of agriculture.
On September 30th, the school hosted the agricultural fair, through the national organization Future Farmers of America.
This is Marathon’s 7th year participating in the ag fair.
The day consists of both students and organizations displaying products and procedures from a wide variety of agricultural practices.
The CTE Agricultural Teacher, Crystal Aukema says that the students are fully responsible for organizing the event, including connecting with local businesses and organizations to have them participate, as well as planning and creating their own exhibits to show at the fair.
“Every student I see is not going to be a producer, they are not going to be a farmer, they are not going to be making our food,” says Aukema. “Every single one of them is going to be a consumer, and they need to know where their items are coming from, or they need to know the skills for how to work with those items.”
Aukema says that 21 organizations and 19 students participated, making it the biggest fair to date.
There were displays of everything from rocks, invasive species, soil quality, and locally made syrup, to live animals such as mini donkeys and pigs.
Aukema says that in the future, she hopes to attract more colleges to the fair to highlight the importance of education and how it goes hand-in-hand with getting a job.