Ag Day took place on October 4, 2013, during first and second period, near the barn and ag building. Students, alumni, administrators, and teachers enjoyed music, food, games, and other activities. The event originally started at Hillsborough High School, then moved to Orange High School, becoming an annual tradition.
The biggest change to Ag Day, which was negatively received by some students, was that Ag Day only lasted two periods. It has previously been three periods long. Jason Johnson, OHS’ principal, said that it has “been this short… in the past.” Will Okun, an assistant principal, explained that the school wanted to make “one big day” for students that was “as fun as possible.”
Ag Day began at 9:15 a.m., after students reported to Panther Period for half an hour. Ag students and other people working at Ag Day used this time period to ensure everything was ready for the student body. At 9:15, the bell rang and students rushed out to begin the festivities.
One of the numerous activities at Ag Day was a water balloon booth run by the Key Club. It cost $1 to throw a water balloon and students could throw balloons at teachers or Key Club members. Andromeda Crowell, the Key Club advisor, said, “[Ag Day] was awesome and [the Key Club booth] was really, really successful.”
Agriculture, the namesake of Ag Day, always has a significant presence at the event. Cheyenne Brook, an ag student who showed a goat at Ag Day, said that she thought Ag Day was “going pretty good… [there haven’t been any] incidents yet.” The ag department sold T-shirts to raise money.
Some of the most popular events at Ag Day are the competitions. This year, there was a chainsaw competition, a chicken cooking competition, a pie eating competition, an “iron man” (weightlifting) competition, a bow shooting competition, and a welding competition. The winners of the competitions were Gracie Finley (chainsaw); John Lee, Austin Sykes, and Johnny Flynn (chickencooking); Kelsie Decker and Trenton Straughan (pie eating); Mia Davidson and David Peters-Logue (iron man); Brandon Tate (bow shooting); and Devon Howell (welding). Sam Whaley and Christa Ivey were the Ag King and Queen, respectively. Jordan Moore, an ag teacher, said, “As a whole, I feel like this year’s Ag Day was a success. We had a great number of kids participate and a great number of teachers come out to support the FFA.”
Music was played constantly at Ag Day. Some of the music was country music by artists like Scotty McCreery. Other music was live music performed by students and teachers as part of a talent show. Mark Greenstreet, one of the teachers who sang, could not be reached for comment because he is absent from school due to the birth of his child. The talent show did not have a winner.
Latin Club sold Pizza Hut pizza and bottled water. The club ran out of pizza quickly, estimating that it sold one box of pizza every two minutes. Nicholas Mauriello, the club advisor, commented, “[Ag Day’s] nice. I don’t think cutting it short a period is going to be that bad.”
At 12:45 p.m., Ag Day ended and students returned to class. Meghan O’Shaugnessy, a sophomore, believed Ag Day was “eventful.”
Ag Day was followed by a pep rally, a tailgate, and the homecoming game.
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