The annual Future Farmers of America Winter Buckle Holiday Classic will begin on Saturday, Dec. 8 and end on Sunday, Dec. 9.

“We’re raising money for [FFA to be] able to go to contest for [veterinary medicine] and we also compete for LHS but that requires money; if it keeps coming out of our pocket, then our organization will disappear,” junior Dylan Bartts said.

This event is a significant opportunity to watch and gather information about ways to take care of farm animals. Members of FFA will not just walk their cows, pigs, sheep and lambs in the arena, but they will also be selling supplies and medical treatments for animals.

“People can always watch the pigs [because] we have booths [set up and] the show station [will be selling] different types of products that people can use on their animals,” senior president Noah Koscelnik said. “They sell different types of pig whips [and] they are going to sell all the [hay] they will need [for their animals]. We are even selling a lot of medicine [for] animals.”

Students and teachers are trying to organize this event to make it easier for visitors to navigate around the Winter Buckle Holiday Classic.

“The [FFA] students will be helping where they are needed,” agriculture science teacher Ashley Riley said. “[Students and volunteers] will be working in the arena, opening gates, separating animals and making sure people know what’s going on.”

The Winter Buckle Holiday Classic is more than just showing the animals or getting a Christmas-decorated buckle. This event is also a learning experience for FFA students who are going to compete in other competitions later this year.

“My students [are] getting experience on what judges want to [see] and how they score,” Riley said.

The FFA members are working extremely hard to make this event enjoyable for all visitors, but throughout this event the first priority is the wellbeing of the animals.

“We don’t allow people to touch the animals unless the owner says they are allowed to touch their animals because these animals have cost us a lot of time in raising and money,” Koscelnik said. “[But FFA] is a great learning experience because it teaches them if they don’t take care of their animal [then] it’s going to die.”

FFA members work on this event not only for their own desires to make this fundraiser raise a good amount of money for their organization but also for the satisfying feeling of giving knowledge to visitors.

“The reason we [help in the event] is because we love this program and this is a chance to get out there and meet a whole lot of different people,” Koscelnik said. “Talking to people about [animals] and informing them on things they wouldn’t have known before they came is a good feeling because we’re bonding over something we both enjoy.”