FSCC Aggie Days draws hundreds of students

Judge Levi Bryant, left, listens as high school student Christi Pilger, Ozark, Mo. , gives her reasons for her choice in the livestock judging contest in the field south of Fort Scott Community College while other contestants waited their turn.

Fort Scott, Kan. -- High school students poured onto the campus of Fort Scott Community College Friday, during the annual Aggie Day event hosted by the college.

High school and some middle school students from Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas participated in livestock judging as well as backing up their decisions in interviews with the judges.

"It was mainly high school, but there were some middle school students," who attended, Alisa Nolan, FSCC director of public relations said.

The school anticipated between 1,300 and 1,500 participating students on the campus Friday with the 100 different schools that participated.

"I just like being outside," Ozark, Mo., high school student Christi Pelger said, explaining what first sparked her interested in agriculture.

The visiting students assembled in the field at the south edge of the college campus to look over notes and take a few minutes to rehearse the reasons they would give after judging livestock in the Arnold Arena.

"We have to give three sets of reasons over hogs, heifers and lambs," Pelger said.

Levi Bryant, an Aggie Day judge sat on the outskirts of the field, calling out numbers and jotting down notes after each student presented his or her reasons for giving the animals particular ratings.

Different competitions included livestock, meat, dairy foods, poultry, floriculture, food science, nursery and landscaping, entomology, speech, farm business management, agronomy and land judge.

The events also featured a horse judging workshop.

After all of the judging competitions were completed, Aggie Day wrapped up with an awards ceremony at 3 p.m.