Future farmers learn to work the land at Appomattox High School

Appomattox County High School’s backyard sounds like a barnyard.

Cows moo.

Sheep bleat.

Chickens squawk, flying aimlessly about their coop.

Passersby could easily mistake it for a farm.

But the 24-acre tract behind the school actually is a land laboratory for students involved in the school’s agriculture education program.

Appomattox is one of just a handful of schools in the state to have land for farm animals on school property and the only one in Virginia with a livestock show team, said Andy Seibel, executive secretary of Virginia Future Farmers of America.

Nearly every day, science teacher Ed McCann and his students use the space for horticulture, veterinary science and other agriculture-related classes.

The laboratory is home to 30 sheep, 20 goats, two cows and five chickens, McCann said. He expects to add pigs to the mix next year.

All of the animals belong to students who are members of the school’s livestock show team and make up a local chapter in the National FFA Organization (formerly known as Future Farmers of America).

The chapter’s alumni purchased the tract of land for students to raise animals in 1983.

McCann said that more than 100 Appomattox residents and business owners contributed to its purchase.

Seibel said Appomattox County High School is rare in that it has “one of the largest agricultural education programs” in the state.

“We’re the only school in the state that really does this,” said McCann, who coaches the show team.

In October, the team of eight students and McCann packed up their sheep and hauled them to Caroline County to com-pete in the Youth Sheep Show.

Students like 17-year-old Mary Beth Wingfield worked for months beforehand, preparing and grooming sheep to show them before potential buyers.

Wingfield said that students generally train the sheep to walk without a halter for a show, a task that takes a lot of time and patience.

“We have to work with the animals a long time to create that bond,” she said.

Wingfield, who placed seventh in her showmanship class at the October show, has participated on the show team since her freshmen year.

Like many other students in McCann’s classes, she plans to pursue a career in agriculture.

Wingfield said that although students create strong bonds with the animals they show, they also realize the livestock are grown for consumption.

“They’re not like pets,” she said.

She and other students from McCann’s veterinary science class agreed that when it comes time to sell their animals, they don’t get upset about it, unlike some young people they compete with at state shows.

“Most of us were raised on farms and taught that this is a part of life,” 16-year-old sophomore Jalen Thomas said.

McCann said the livestock show team and agricultural education program both teach students important life skills.

“They learn teamwork, perseverance, respect for others and the animals.”

He said it also gives students the hands-on experience they can’t receive in an indoor environment.

Not only do they read about animal anatomy and husbandry, he said, they actually see it with their own eyes.

His students agreed.

“We get so much more experience this way,” said Dani Gauldery, a senior. “It makes you learn more.”