UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 8, Page 12
October 24, 1991
Do kids go back to class after they've seen the farm?

     It's better than Old MacDonald, at least to the 6 and under
set. It's the University of Delaware's 400-acre farm, maintained by
the College of Agricultural Sciences. Each fall the farm is a busy
place bustling with school children who eagerly tour part of the
facility with members of Alpha Zeta, a professional, honorary and
service fraternity for men and women studying agriculture.
     AZ has been conducting farm tours for at least the last 10
years or, in other words, as long as anyone currently connected
with the organization can remember. The tours are so popular with
local pre- and elementary schools that the fraternity no longer
needs to advertise. Word of mouth and praise from satisfied
customers keeps the same teachers coming back with new children
year after year.
     Each year a different member of AZ is in charge of organizing
the month of farm tours. This year's organizer is Alex
Bartnikowski, an animal science senior who is the current chair of
the service committee.
     "Teachers hear about the farm tours from each other and they
call the secretary in the ag department at various times. When we
get back in September, there is usually a long list and we start
calling everybody and scheduling tours as soon as we are
organized," Bartnikowski said.
     "Students do the tours in their free time and we have about 25
to 30 people who conduct them," she explained.
     "Most of the children who come to the farm are 4-, 5- and 6-
year-olds, although we have had some 7- and 8- year olds come
through." Students are given a tour of three areas of the farm.
They see piglets, sheep, dairy calfs, beef heifers and chickens.
     "We explain each animal and talk about what products come from
them, and the children are allowed to pet them," Bartnikowski said.
     From there the tour progresses to the milking parlor where
tour guides try to milk a cow for all to see. Unfortunately, the
cows aren't always ready to cooperate and Bartnikowski remembers
one embarassing tour where she tried to milk one in vain.
     From there students are led into the computerized milking
room, to see where milk is kept and see calves being fed at a
computerized feeding unit.
     As they walk from place to place, guides explain the silos and
uses of surrounding fields. At the end of the tour, everyone gets
a coloring book of-what else-farm animals.
     The tours are almost always a hit with teachers and children.
Bartnikowski said AZ members enjoy guiding the visitors around.
     "It's pretty neat. The children always seem to enjoy it, and
it's fun to do. I think they like petting the animals best," she
said.
     In addition to the farm tour, Alpha Zeta collects cannned food
for the homeless, holds a spring blood drive and is active during
Ag Day with a pork barbeque and educational display. Members of AZ
are selected from the top 40 percent of ag majors.
                                        - Beth Thomas