SAE Visit #1

A typical responsibility of an ag teacher would be to do SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience)
visits with the kids in their program in a "normal" year. These visits are a way for the teacher to see where kids are at in their SAEs, assist in any way they can, and give guidance on how to progress their SAEs. In keeping on trend with the way things have been going this year, a physical SAE visit was something that I wasn't able to do this year. However, as with everything else this year, I am

adapting and adjusting and doing the next best thing! I was
able to do a "virtual" visit with one of the students at Big Spring instead. This student and I sat down to have a conversation and look through her books as well as look at the barn cameras she has on her goats. 

This student has a fantastic SAE focused in goat production - entrepreneurship. She raises a herd of about 45 goats that she uses for breeding and showing. This young lady is the one responsible for making decisions with her goats, such as when to breed them, what goats to keep and what ones to sell, how to train the goats, which ones will be best for shows, and so much more. During our conversation, she walked me through an 
average year with her goats, going through when the goats get bred, the intensity of kidding season, the exhaustion of training the young goats, and the thrill of showing them. Through all of our conversations, this student's love and passion for her SAE was so evident. She has put blood, sweat, and tears into this project and it shows. 

Overall, this SAE is very well done and sets the bar high for SAEs. Besides this student's dedication to her project, she also has very thorough books and is well organized with her documentation system. This young lady has been working on this SAE for three years now, and already executes responsibilities at such a high level. She has a lot of potential and I am excited to see where her and this project go. 

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Along the side is some of the pictures that she shared with me. Starting at the top and going down the pictures show the following: a screenshot from one of the camera in the barn, one of the kids in a buck, a doe with two of her kids, their livestock guardian dog who protects the herds from predators, and finally, this young lady showing one of her goats at a fair.