APACHE, Okla. (AP) - Apache Elementary and Middle School students spent their third day back in school learning about farming before the advent of modern technology.
“We want them to appreciate how hard their grandparents and those older generations worked,” said Chris Six, a sixth-grade teacher at Apache Middle School. “They don’t know how easy they have it now.”
The students got up-close looks at an old-time wheat thresher, hay baler and corn shucker - all of which were powered by a belt assembly hooked up to a tractor. The machine operations were straight off the farm in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were set up at the Apache Fairgrounds as part of the annual Apache Fair.
Students gasped in amazement and awe when wheat grains shot out of the thresher after it was loaded by Stanley Greenfield. Fellow demonstrator Gary Perry picked up handfuls of the wheat grains and showed them to the students, who were shocked at how the tiny pieces were separated from the tall stalks they see growing in the fields on the side of the road much of the winter and spring. He cautioned those who were eager to put some of the pieces in their mouths, The Lawton Constitution (https://bit.ly/1E1qcS1 ) reported.
“You can’t eat these, though,” Perry said. “You see those black spots in there? That’s mouse poop.”
Cimarron Smith, an Apache Elementary School student, said he’d seen the equipment before on his grandparents’ farm, but he never gets bored of seeing it operating.
“It’s cool,” he said. “It’s always cool to watch it. My favorite is always the corn. It’s fun to shuck it like that.”
As part of the demonstration, students got a hands-on experience grinding corn kernels off the cobs with hand-cranked machines. Many grabbed cobs and had fun playing with them, while others couldn’t shove enough down in the old-time hand-cranked machines. Teachers had to be diligent because many students wanted to take some of the corn with them on the buses back to the school.
Harmon Parmer had fun and always looks forward to the fair each year.
“I think the fair is the best thing around,” he said. “If you don’t get to come out, you really should. You don’t know what you’re missing.”
Six said this is the first year sixth-grade students were brought out to the fairgrounds. Many had already seen the demonstration in years past, but she said the students always look forward to it. And then there are some, she said, who are in complete shock by what they discover.
“We had some students who didn’t even know that was corn over there,” Six said. “They thought it was just popcorn. Many have been too far separated from the farm. Even though we live in an agricultural community, many don’t know how the farm operates and what they do. That’s why this is so important.”
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Information from: The Lawton Constitution, https://www.swoknews.com
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