A Kindergarten to Grade 12 school nestled in an East-Central Alberta hamlet is giving students a hands-on learning experience in agriculture.
Altario School Principal, Kevin Van Lagen, says they have a community garden and two steers the students are responsible for taking care of.
"I think it's a good thing for the students to be interacting with animals in a positive way and learning about their care. One of my students said, when you teach a student animal skills, you're also teaching them people skills, because you're learning empathy and care."
Van Lagen says one steer will be auctioned at the School's wrap up in June, and one will be slaughtered to use in their hot lunch program.
He adds, lots of their students choose to take agriculture programs after graduating.
"We found a lot of them were all picking the same program because they didn't realize how many opportunities there are in agriculture, so we're trying open their eyes to the breadth of possibilities that exist in agriculture."
Van Lagen hopes they'll be able to expand the farm one day with a small piece of crop land and more animals.
Source : Discoverairdrie