Area students design sheep feeders for Running of the Wools
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
With a completed sheep feeder at McGuffey High School are, from left, Eli Taylor, Reid Teagarden, vocational agriculture teacher John Leasure, Elihu Dale and Mason Pratt.
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
Leah Valentic (top) and Danielle Owens of Range Resources work on sheep feeders at McGuffey High School for Washington’s Running of the Wools event.
Paul Paterra/Observer-REporter
Brandon Carlson of Range Resources operates the drill while the wood is held in place by McGuffey sophomore Reid Teagarden and Erica Taylor of Range Resources.
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
McGuffey sophomores Elihu Dale, left, and Eli Taylor work on measurements for a sheep feeder.
Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter
Shana Brown, Main Street Manager for the Washington Business District Authority, hammers in a nail.
Sheep won’t be the only ones competing at next month’s Running of the Wools event in downtown Washington.
Last week, employees of Range Resources, presenting sponsor for the sheep races, teamed up with McGuffey High School Future Farmers of America students at the high school to build 20 sheep feeders for the event.
The feeders were distributed to 20 schools representing 10 of Washington County’s 14 districts. Twenty-one student teams are involved; Trinity FFA chose to build its own feeder. Teams of students will decorate the feeders and write a one-page essay on best conservation practices in farming. The feeders will be on display at the Running of the Wools, where visitors, using a QR code assigned to each, can read about and vote on their favorite.
The top three finishers will receive a classroom grant from Range Resources.
“This event involves our local farmers and showcases them,” said Christina Kramer, Range Resources community relations specialist. “Our school districts are very important to us as well. Workforce development in education and making sure people know who we are and what we do in the areas we operate is super important.”
McGuffey sophomore Elihu Dale said a lot of trial and error went into developing the right feeder.
“The design we took this from is a solid metal self feeder,” he explained. “We combined a (hay feeder) we worked on before and the self feeder we found online to come up with something where you could put hay in for sheep and lamb, and you could also pour grain at the bottom, but we didn’t have a place where you could paint. So, we added a big trim board across the front. That allows for people to make it their own.”
Heather Gojmerac, gifted teacher at Trinity Middle School, said about 20 gifted students in grades six to eight will design Trinity’s feeder.
“When we talked to our kids about this, they got pretty excited,” Gojmerac said. “How could you not when you’re a preteen or a teenager and you hear you’re going to paint a sheep feeder. We really like that it’s a real-world application. It’s got the education piece and it’s got the piece where they really have to do something.”
About 20 AP environmental science students have taken on the project at Ringgold High School. Since the school mascot is a Ram, students feel they may have the inside track on the competition.
“Anything that is not a regular assignment is very exciting,” said Heather Roman, head of the school’s science department. “As a class, they have actually learned about food production as part of the AP curriculum so they can apply what they’ve learned in class to an authentic situation. To be able to learn about the history of the area and put it into a modern context is very important.”
Katie Magyar said the feeder project will be a group effort at Allison Park Elementary School in the Chartiers-Houston School District, with many classes playing a role.
“It’s all hands on deck,” said the school’s STEAM instructor. “I think this is where education is heading, this cross-curricular authentic activity. We have a lot of rural kids out here so they understand the importance of the farming aspect. The fact that there is a contest involved and we’re competing against other schools builds up enthusiasm.”
The Running of the Wools is set for the weekend of May 5 to 7, with the sheep races being held on Main Street on Saturday, May 6. The weekend also will include a “Sheep-0 de Mayo” celebration May 5, a breakfast crawl and a number of vendors and farm artisans at the Main Street Pavilion.
Shana Brown, Main Street Manager for the Washington Downtown Business Authority, was on hand Wednesday at McGuffey. She has seen Running with the Wools evolve greatly since the initial video announcing the event.
“It makes me really happy, because at the end of the day this is what the event is about. It’s about the community coming together,” she said. “It’s promoting our history through agriculture and raising it up for the next generation. That was a huge goal and intention whenever we were starting this event, to have something everybody the community could get behind, and what better than sheep.”