Special Learning Center gets visit from Eldon FFA's petting zoo

Leah Stichler, right, takes the hand of Charlotte Bickel to help her pet Bubba, the Yorkshire Terrier and Welsh Corgie Terrier mix. Stichler, a junior,  is a three-year member of Eldon High School's FFA program and was one of more than a dozen students who brought a petting zoo to the students of the Special Learning Center Monday.
Leah Stichler, right, takes the hand of Charlotte Bickel to help her pet Bubba, the Yorkshire Terrier and Welsh Corgie Terrier mix. Stichler, a junior, is a three-year member of Eldon High School's FFA program and was one of more than a dozen students who brought a petting zoo to the students of the Special Learning Center Monday.

More than 100 children at the Special Learning Center (SLC) had a chance to interact with a few farm animal favorites as a treat from the Eldon Future Farmers of America chapter.

On Monday, Eldon teacher Lorrie Grisham and more than a dozen high school FFA students visited the SLC to showcase their petting zoo. There were a variety of farm animals including three pigs, one calf, one sheep, one goat, a chicken and a dog.

"The purpose of this program was to teach kids about animals they may not see otherwise," said Amy Edwards, program director at the SLC. 

"It was a wonderful sensory experience for the kids here at the center."

For the past two years, students from Eldon FFA have worked with the Special Learning Center. Kent Shikels, advisor and program organizer for the Eldon FFA, was glad to come back for the second year.

"This is a great opportunity for our students to interact with children who have special needs and showcase their projects (farm animals)," Shikels said.

In addition to the petting zoo, the Eldon FFA also set up a hay maze for the kids.

Edwards said it was a great addition to the program giving the children at the center an opportunity to use their gross motor skills.

Previous coverage:

Special Learning Center able to increase music therapy with Arts Council grant (June 14, 2016)