By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

DRY RIDGE, Ky. — Being a part of their communities and taking part in community activities are attributes FFA members all across the country take seriously and those members of the Grant County High School chapter are no different.

For the past four years they have participated in a program called Unite to Read, a statewide project designed by Kentucky’s Career and Technical Student Organizations to promote literacy and lifelong learning.

Members of the organizations participate in a mentoring atmosphere set to a Share a Story night generally held at a local school. The theme of the night is built around a different book each year that is given to each child attending the event. Grant County calls their story night Hay Read.

Most events involve elementary age children going from one room to another, each with a different activity that relates back to the book.

This year’s selection is called Gregory, the Terrible Eater whose main character is a goat and in the spirit of that theme, FFA members filled an outside area of the school grounds with animals, including a goat.

Richard Gater, who serves as one of the school’s FFA advisors said the idea of animals being a part of the chapter’s involvement in the program was established the first year they participated.

“When the group decided to participate, they thought it would be neat to have a few animals out here as part of a small petting zoo. That caught on and has grown more and more each year,” he said.
“Since most of the books were agricultural in nature, we decided to call our event Hay Read. We have grown each year and this year I’ve been told we really out did ourselves with lots of posters and tie-ins to the program. We wanted to promote healthy eating as well as what comes from the farm that would be healthy.”

The healthy eating theme comes from the goat in the book and his eating habits. Gregory, it seems, likes normal healthy foods like fresh fruit and vegetables while his parents think he isn’t eating properly since goats should like things like tin cans and tires.
“This is my first involvement with the program, and I wanted to make sure we did a good job,” Gater explained.

“It’s just the beginning as far as we’re concerned. Next year we’re planning on bringing in the dairy council and the beef council, local growers and the local farmers market and try to get those folks involved. I would really like to tie in the community. That’s my big thrust as an agriculture teacher is to make sure the community is involved what we’re doing.”

Anna Huff, who serves as the chapter president and parliamentarian of the Northern Kentucky Region said she hopes the event will help children make good choices when it comes to the food they eat.

“With obesity being such a problem with children today, if we help one child make better choices and open their eyes to a healthier way of eating and living, we have helped that child and the community around them,” she said.

Tyler Spillman, chapter vice president echoed those sentiments and said the event was fun for the FFA members as well as the children.
“Children learn things faster and it sticks with them longer if they have fun while they learn,” he said. “Our Hay Read about Gregory, the Terrible Eater was a blast for us to put on and seemed to be fun for the second graders. It will help keep children fit and it will hopefully help them become lifelong learners by teaching them they can learn and have fun at the same time.”