Lakewood Ranch Junior Ranchers learn about agriculture through camp

Into his second year at Junior Ranchers Camp at Lakewood Ranch High School, 10-year-old Graham Rueping said a cow actually licked him.

It was just another experience, no matter how small, that Rueping, who attends B.D. Gullett Elementary, said makes the camp special.

He said he was inspired to go through the program, which ran June 2-6, by his 19-year-old brother Noah, who was a counselor at the camp for two years.

As he did last year, Rueping said he enjoyed hanging out with cows such as Kingston, Asher and Tippy.

Twelve Junior Ranchers ranging from second to sixth grade, along with nine counselors, learned about plant science, animal science, environmental science, and leadership. The campers were divided into teams.

The teams were the Blue Bears, Red Rattlesnakes, Green Gators and Yellow Stallions. They worked together on activities throughout the week. 

“We try to get as hands-on as possible," said McKenzie Gorskey, an agriculture teacher at Lakewood Ranch High. "The kids this week have milked cows, handled beef animals and snakes. We've also had them out collecting insects. We just try to get them out into agriculture and teach them things to take with them.”

Gorskey has been the agriculture teacher at Lakewood Ranch High School for eight years and the camp has been going on for five. 

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“I grew up in agriculture, so it's natural for me to love it, but I found a passion for teaching when I was in high school in my own FFA program,” Gorskey said. “It was just something that seemed to fit for all of my interests, and I love seeing kids find joy in it as well.”

Gorskey said one of the foundational reasons that the camp was created was to expose younger kids to agriculture, in hopes that they will take agriculture classes and join FFA when they get older. 

“They have a better understanding of where their food, fiber and natural resources come from,” said Gorskey. 

During the week, there were a couple of guest speakers. Tim App, a retired agriculture teacher from Orange County, made a visit to the campers and brought 12 snakes along with him.

“Seeing them get excited about it and learn about reptiles, how they breed, how they eat, how they live, solidified the environmental curriculum that we covered that morning,” said Gorskey. 

Parrish’s Nico Villanueva, a 7-year-old who attends Williams Elementary, was not eager to see the snakes. He said he was terrified and initially went to the back of the room but got the courage to be in close proximity. 

“I don't really like snakes, and the snakes that they pulled out were very creepy,” said Villanueva. “I didn’t touch them, I just got close to them.” 

While snakes weren’t exactly Villanueva’s favorite, he said his favorite part of the week was walking the cows at the school that are raised by students to show at the county fair in January. He said he would love to return as a camper next year. 

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Myakka’s Lane Tamberino, a 10-year-old who attends Classical Academy of Sarasota, said he was terrified of the Texas Indigo, even though he had handled snakes before from living in the country. 

“The other ones I said look cute because of their faces,” said Tamberino. 

Tamberino also has experience with farm animals and owns two cows that he takes to show: a heifer named Ginger and a steer named Joseph. 

“Going into the show ring, you've got that game face on and you don't know if you're going to win,” said Tamberino. “It’s just like a Bingo game.”

Along with App, Manatee County’s Sgt. Rob Hendrickson of the COPS Rural Unit visited the campers to talk about his personal experience with handling wildlife.

Gabby Finnegan, 16, is a member of the Lakewood Ranch High FFA and worked as a counselor for the camp. She said one of the campers asked Hendrickson if he had ever punched a bear before.

“Seeing them engage and ask questions at their age was not only impressive to us, but it was extremely impressive to the guest speakers,” Gorskey said. “They were able to see the curiosity.”

Along with all of the hands-on activities, the campers watched movies regarding issues and lessons about agriculture. They watched “A Bug’s Life,” “Home on the Range” and “Hoot.”