HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — After Friday, Houston County School District students are done with school until the new year. However, agriculture students are still committed to caring for their animals even over winter break.
Perry High School sophomore Stella Wood said her dedication to working with animals started in middle school.
"I remember all of my sixth-grade year, I was like, 'Oh, I will never get involved with Ag, I don't want to touch like nasty little pigs,'” she said. “Then my younger sister got a pig, and I like fell in love and then two days later I had a pig."
Now, she has a cow too. She organizes her daily schedule so she can feed, walk and bathe them.
"A recommended time is like 8 a.m. to come feed the pigs,” Wood said. "You try to set feedings. You feed them twice a day. Try to set feedings like 12 hours apart. So, we'll come at 8 a.m. in the morning to feed and 8 at night to feed. Then often time, we come for a third, or we'll do it before we feed at night."
Most of the time, they have help from teachers.
"During the week, we can actually come out and help the students and feed during the week and so they can go to school, but then when it's weekends and holidays, it is all on them," Houston County Young Farmer Advisor Ashley Denton said.
Senior Addison Fox said she cares for the animals like they are her own because a few of them actually are. While the district owns the farm, the students' families are responsible for buying and looking after the cows and pigs.
"Being responsible for them, I have to spend multiple hours every day,” Fox said. “I am that primary care. They can't take care of themselves. They can fend on grass and I'm the one responsible for filling up buckets and just making sure that they are as healthy as possible."
Time means everything because the animals’ mealtime depends on it, even over the holidays.
"I would say the biggest thing that they're learning is discipline, time management, especially lots of our students who are AP students and honor students,” Denton said. “Those students really have to learn how to manage their time if they want to be successful in both aspects."
Regional Agriculture Education Director Chris Corzine said there are more than 2,300 students in Houston County's Future Farmers of America program this semester. He said the county also has the largest livestock program in the state.