All about the farming life

After-school programs are a way for children to learn new things while also staying out of trouble. For Costa Mesa Councilwoman Wendy Leece, one program is paying off.

The Ranch After School Program at the Orange County Fairgrounds is a partnership between the city and the fairgrounds. The program teaches kids the value of animals and about the farmers’ lives.

“I was very impressed by the quality of their speeches and posters,” said Leece, who was one of the program judges this year. “Their knowledge of their subjects and their presentations to adult judges were excellent for their ages. I can tell the kids love the program.”

About 55 Costa Mesa elementary school children graduated from the program last week. The fairgrounds and the city partnered in 2003 to provide the program.

By Friday’s graduation, 529 children had graduated from the program since its inception, said Teresa Dayton, the ranch program coordinator.

Although it began for at-risk kids, it now enrolls elementary students from Davis Magnet, College Park, Sonora and Paularino elementary schools, Dayton said.

“Their schools select them,” she said. “We let the schools know how many kids we need a year and different teachers pick the kids for different reasons.”

By the end of the program, all the children learn about farm gardening, leather crafts or livestock.

“It teaches them where food comes from, it teaches them to care for animals, what animals are used by farmers and they can start their own plants,” Dayton said.

The program is offered for free, once a year, and runs for 23 weeks from October to April, Dayton said.

To graduate, the children have to demonstrate what they learned in a poster project, showing the life cycle of a plant, for example.

“They teach us what we taught them,” Dayton said.

Leece said the program is of great benefit to the kids.

“It’s so hands-on,” she said. “They seem to enjoy their garden plots, taking care of the animals and also leather craft. What a great team — the fair and the city working together to offer kids an exciting time after school.”