A new local initiative is bringing important farm safety lessons directly to schools, helping rural kids stay safe.
Claire Koch, the Wellesley Fair ambassador, started a program called Barnyard Buddies that educates kids on how to stay safe around the farm. Koch goes into schools and teaches kids in an assembly-style setting about farm dangers through games and talks about farm safety.
For Koch, the message of farm safety is a passion that goes back to her childhood on her parents’ farm.
“Growing up on a dairy farm, my parents always instilled in us the importance of farm safety and being cautious on the farm. I just had a passion for that, and then wanted to share it with other kids,” said Koch.
After attending the Waterloo Rural Women Farm Safety Day for kids when she was younger, she was inspired to start her own farm safety program.
“It was always a highlight for me going to those as a kid, because we had other people talk to us about safety in schools, and it was so dry. It was kind of like worksheets and stuff, and I didn’t want to do paper – I didn’t want to do more school about safety,” said Koch.
“Whereas when I went to the Waterloo Rural Women’s event, they had so much hands-on stuff.”
She recalled that attending the organization’s farm safety day was when she learned to use a fire extinguisher, and it was the first time she got into a fire truck. She also learned about the difference in vision between cow eyes and human eyes. Cows have monocular vision, giving them reduced depth perception. They are also red-green colorblind and have weaker eye muscles, meaning they have a slower focusing speed compared to humans, making things like shadows look like deep holes.
“That was where we put on these cow goggles, and we did an obstacle course with them. It was so nice to be able to actually see how a cow would see,” said Koch.
“I think doing hands-on stuff like that really helps [farm safety] stick in your head. So then that’s where I got the idea to do something hands-on at the school, so kind of mix the two of them together.”
While farm safety day gets kids out to a farm, Koch wanted to bring the farm safety messages directly to kids at the school.
“A lot of people weren’t sure if I was going to get into the schools or not, but I think just because this is a really important topic, and a lot of people recognize how serious it is to teach kids about safety around agriculture.”
So far, the program has reached two schools. Koch went to Wellesley Public School last December and North Easthope PS in January. She set up a variety of activities for the kids, covering topics such as large-animal safety, how to spot hazards on the farm, large-equipment safety, and water safety. At North Easthope, Koch demonstrated water safety with dolls.
“I had an actual bucket of water, and then we had little dolls, and we made little life jackets for them, and so then they could just play around with how important it really is to have our life jackets on, and they would watch the doll sink if it didn’t have a life jacket, how it’d stay up if it did.”
Recently, the Woolwich Community Health Centre reached out to her to partner about expanding Barnyard Buddies, in combination with their own farm safety program.
“They thought that together we would be able to reach both public and private schools, and then we can help combine resources and support each other, so I’m really excited for that,” said Koch.
Her mission is to expand the program to as many schools as possible in the area, recognizing that all kids in a rural area, not just those growing up on farms, need to know how to stay safe on the farm.
“This applies to anyone. Any kid that lives in a rural township, they’re going to be exposed to agriculture, they’re going to go visit a family or friend who lives on a farm. So this is something that shouldn’t just be brushed over, because even kids that aren’t working on a farm every day are still exposed to these dangers, and they should still be made aware of blind spots, how to be safe on the farm, and the dangers that are associated with agriculture.”
Throughout her journey of starting Barnyard Buddies, Koch has received support from the community.
“I really appreciate the people who helped me do this.”
Koch’s most recent safety talk was at the Rural Women’s event last weekend.
“It’s really a full-circle moment for me,” said Kock, noting that experience is cool given that she attended the event herself as a kid.
“Now I get to be one of the people who are teaching the kids.”
For more information on the Barnyard Buddies program, reach out directly to Koch at barnyardbuddies008@gmail.com.
