Laura Atfield’s Grade 1 Crossfield Elementary School class won the grand prize for the poster they entered in the Aggie Days Art Challenge for the Grade 1 to 3 category.
The competition, put on by Bayer CropScience and the Calgary Stampede’s Agriculture Education Committee, asked students to create a poster with the theme, “how farming impacts my family.” The contest was designed to help Calgary and district youth learn about the importance of agriculture in everyday life.
Atfield and her class brainstormed and decided to use three different categories – food, fashion and fun – to illustrate the theme.
She said many of the kids live on or around farms and knew all about food and activities from the farm, but mostly had input for the “fun” category.
“They were good at that,” she said with a laugh. “They knew quading and mutton-busting.”
The kids each created illustrations for the poster and labeled their drawings. Once everything was glued onto some poster board, Atfield sent their creation off to Bayer CropScience.
With the win, the class was awarded a trip to Aggie Days in Calgary in April, where the kids got “VIP” treatment that included comfy seats behind the bull shoots and Aggie Days merchandise. Atfield said the kids enjoyed the time spent exploring and meeting the animals. The class also got to see their poster handiwork on display at Aggie Days.
“It’s been a wonderful experience,” Atfield said.
In addition to the VIP Aggie Days experience, Bayer CropScience awarded the class $2,000 for technology purchases during a presentation at the school May 6. Atfield said they are thinking of using the award money to purchase iPad Minis to share with the rest of the school.
“We’ll definitely enter again, and the other classes have learned about it now too,” Atfield said.
