For Chelan FFA students, county fair is months in the making

CHELAN COUNTY — For 15 students of Chelan FFA, the Chelan County Fair is the culmination of months of hard work and care.

“They're excited to go to Chelan County [Fair] and show their animals, show everyone what they've been working on,” said Michael Ramirez Martinez, Chelan High School Ag Teacher and FFA Advisor.

The students have been caring for their animals since spring, taking responsibility over their every day care, such as feeding, cleaning, walking. They’ve spent hours each day caring for them and learning how to prepare them for the fair, practicing haltering, handling and showing. 

“The students are learning a variety of different skills that they may need,” said Ramirez.

The process has leant to the development of a number of lifelong skills. They learn responsibility and the time commitment of caring for an animal. They figure out their animal’s needs and how to respond if there’s a problem. When their animal is ready to show, they learn how to network, communicate, promote and sell their animal. They also learn how to let go of an animal they may have grown attached to.

Now, they will have the opportunity to showcase the results of those efforts. This year, the students will be showing a number of different animals, including goats, pigs, sheep, steer, and horses.

According to Ramirez, the students take tremendous pride in showing their animals at the fair. They are doing what they love to do, or for the newer students, just starting to love what they like to do, he added.

“You can just tell by their expressions…The students really like seeing people come out and talk to them. I think that's one thing that I've seen with students, is their character as a person changes when they're at the fair,” said Ramirez.

According to Ramirez, the students of Chelan FFA have created a strong community among themselves; year after year, he has seen this sense of community help students feel a sense of belonging and like they can be themselves. At the fair, this sense of community is amplified as the students are able to connect with participants from neighboring FFAs.

“For some students, it's like, ‘Oh, this is our little small community that branches out to the bigger community,” said Ramirez.