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FUTURE FARMERS: Petting zoo raises money

By Gillian Armstrong
   For the past two years the NBC high school FFA Chapter has held a petting zoo as part of National FFA Week. The chapter uses one of the shop areas for the petting zoo; clearing it out to fit four animal pens and two tables. This year the animals included were: a Black Angus cow, pigs, a goat, a pony, chickens, a puppy, and quail. All of the animals belonged to FFA members. To maintain safety the members monitored the animals and provided hand sanitizer so that participants could clean their hands. One of the favorite events was a “Kiss the Cow.” Teachers volunteered to participate and the school community “voted” for their favorite by donating pennies. Jon Reising and Ed DelRusso, both from the Social Studies department, tied the competition by raising equal amounts of money and both kissed the cow. Whitney the cow, owned by chapter member Clint Carty, was thrilled with the experience. The money raised by the contest will be donated to the Burlington County Animal Shelter.
   Many students in the school came down throughout the day to visit the petting zoo. To commemorate the Kiss the Cow contest chapter members designed, printed, and sold T-shirts for the occasion. Both the T-shirts and jerky samples were sold out by the end of the day.