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Fair Preparation Kicks Off with Beef Weigh In
Fair is right around the corner, and the first pre-fair weigh ins began in Linn County in February. There were 58 steers from 49 youth weighed in on Wednesday, February 8, and Saturday, February 11. Thank you to our volunteers, FFA advisors, and auction committee who helped the event to run smoothly.
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Outdoor school has been around for more than 60-years, Brooks said, but only since 2017 has it been the recipient of state funding, which it gets from the Oregon Lottery. As such, the program has seen a significant increase in participation, going from around 65 percent participation of the state’s public schools to around 85 percent today.
And, Brooks said, since state funds have been issued, more students from Title 1 (lower-income schools) have been participating. Prior to the funding, which was authorized by the Oregon Legislature in 2015 and approved by voters in a 2016 ballot measure, low-economic status schools were often left out of the program, because the cost of participation was shouldered typically by parents or students through direct payments or fundraising.
“It has been more equitable for students across the state to be able to have those experiences,” said Grube, who has seen a significant increase in interest in the program in Western Oregon in recent years. “Now, because Extension’s Outdoor School program is reimbursing districts for many of the costs of outdoor school, it has allowed districts to be able to serve their students better, and I have had more schools reaching out to me looking for providers than ever before.” http://extension.oregonstate.edu/linn
Like other programs, OSU Extension’s Outdoor School program saw a decline in participation during the height of the COVID pandemic, Brooks said, but today it is building back up to pre-COVID levels.
“We are almost back up to our pre-pandemic participation levels this academic year,” Brooks said. “Five-hundred fiftyfive schools have applied to participate this year, and if every single kid gets to go, that means about 43,000 students will go to outdoor school this year.
“We are pretty excited to be back to where we were in 20192020,” she said.
