DARKE COUNTY—Over the past month, the Darke County Cattlemen’s Association (DCCA) traveled throughout Darke County to present a set of eight agriculturally-correct children’s books to county school districts.
The books were written by Amanda Radke, author and keynote speaker at the DCCA 2023 winter banquet.
The assoc. board decided in February to purchase a set of the books, and donate them to local students.
Erin Horst, President of DCCA, said with society moving farther and farther away from the farm, these books are valuable.
“A lot of these kids’ did not grow up on farms,” she said. “Some of their grandparents may have had animals, or a small hobby farm. Our hope is that they get a better idea of what happens on a farm, and the agricultural industry.”
Horst and the 2023 DCCA Royalty (Princess Grace Graf and Queen Mikayla Cain) have visited Tri Village, Arcanum, Ansonia, Versailles, Mississinawa Valley and St Mary’s Catholic elementaries thus far.
“What we’ve been doing at those schools, we’ve read in the library to a class of elementary students,” Horst said. “It was agriculture week, and March is Agricultural Literacy Month, so we talked about agriculture being the largest industry in Darke County. As well as, byproducts they get from cows and use in their daily lives.”
The group most recently visited Ansonia Local School District on March 29, and presented the books to their elementary students.
“The books will be placed in the library, for students to enjoy and check out like typical library books,” Ansonia Elementary Principal Ashlee Fourman said. “What was neat was that a former and current student were there to present the books. I think it’s nice for them to see older kids present those to them, people that the students look up to.”
