Community Based Unit of Instruction

While I had originally planned on utilizing just my students in my electrical wiring class, I also decided to
include students in my Animal/Vet science class as well. Students in my electrical wiring class focused on electrical safety primarily, while students in my animal/vet class focused on the animal care aspect and eliminating hazards in a barn. Students from both of these classes helped clean and tidy the barn area in readiness for the event.

The flyer (right) was used for advertising the event, and was posted around the school and in the local grocery store. Three local volunteer fire companies were invited to participate and be a part of this event and were contacted via phone calls and emails.

Post card sized handouts were provided to all participants as a visual reminder for themselves, or to share with someone in their community.

Several volunteer fire company members from the community gave a short presentation on some of the most common situations they encounter with barn fires and working with animals, and shared some tips for prevention. I then had the opportunity to provide a demonstration dealing with a spooked horse at the event, and discussed different methods for getting spooked animals under control and calmed down. After my demonstrations with the horse, several brought up how they could also apply the same strategies when dealing with Amish horses involved in accidents. This led to them asking more questions, and I had the opportunity to go a little more in depth on animal behavior and some possible responses to various situations.

Participants seemed to really enjoy the event, and remarked how beneficial the animal handling techniques and hands-on experience was to them... and of course everybody enjoyed working with the baby goats!

No funding was needed for this event. The fire company members volunteered their time, and also offered their Jr. members credit hours to attend the event, so it was beneficial to all involved.