Every year Ag. Mechanic students compete and place their projects in the May Day fair. This opportunity helps students receive recognition for their effort and skills at building a project and hopefully, a scholarship through FFA. This also helps the student build responsibility for being on time and showing up to class to work. Not many students get the chance to show a project due to time, money, or experience.
These projects consist of farm equipment, art, fire pits, frames, BBQs, heavy equipment for recreational use, etc. Many students take pride in their work and try to fabricate only the best. Fabricating a project from top to bottom is the most rewarding because students have a final project to display and use. A project of any kind represents the student as a worker and shows how they felt creating it, from every moment the student welded and grinded. With this regard, it helps build the student’s character.
When entering a project it could be stressful with the thought of not finishing on time or just being plain stuck in the process of making it. Ag. Mech students are only given 40 minutes per day to work on their projects and that’s not including Pride Time. So time is very valuable and essential. Many students are not given the chance to work on their projects daily due to occupants of equipment being used such as welders, grinders, etc. But when given the freedom, it’s not wasted. Gage McDonald (12) is a perfect example. McDonald has very limited time with the fair around the corner, but that doesn’t stop him from trying his best to refurbish a large BBQ trailer. This project has been entrusted to him by his Ag. Mechanics teacher. Every day he gets to class before anyone to be able to grab the tools needed for that day and just work.
To be able to enter a project in the fair, Ag. Mech students need to be done before April 20. Within that week the projects need to arrive to the fairgrounds in order for it to be prepared to look pretty amongst the other competing projects in the exhibits. This forces the student to be on point and lock into gear. If everything goes right, the student will be able to qualify to try to get FFA rewards/scholarships based on the cost of the project and purpose.
The May Day Spring Fair is April 30 through May 4.
