BATON ROUGE – This year’s AgMagic had a record number of visitors – 13,840 – and LSU AgCenter officials are already planning next year’s event.
“It was a huge success. We had a lot more and a lot nicer exhibits this year,” said Terry Dumas, LSU AgCenter animal sciences professor, who co-chairs the AgMagic project.
AgMagic was held April 21-27, 2008 at Parker Coliseum with numerous exhibits to show children and their parents where food, fiber and wood products originate. The event is free.
Frankie Gould, director of LSU Ag- Center communications and co-chair of AgMagic, said more than 9,572 attended during school visits.
“This was 2,000 more than last year,” she said. “Attendance has been increasing every year since we started in 2004.”
Teacher Natalie Jadid, a fourth grade teacher at University Lab School at LSU, said the exhibits provided students with tangible displays of what they had been learning about plants. “It’s a good review,” she said.
Third-grade teacher Maria Shingleton of Children’s Charter School of Baton Rouge said AgMagic follows her science curriculum.
“This is what is expected of them to learn. This is what we’ve been studying,” she said.
She especially appreciated the handwashing lesson students were given at the last exhibit on the tour.
Teacher Carla Theriot of Southdowns Preschool said the event helps students learn what they’ve been taught in class.
“It’s wonderful. I like the hands-on opportunities,” Theriot said.
Bruce Schultz
(This article was published in the spring 2008 issue of Louisiana Agriculture.) |