NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

We think this deserves a separate post! This week, campers were challenged to bring in items to donate to the Newton County Animal Shelter. Items not only included dog food and cat food but also towels, cleaning supplies, toys, bowls, blankets, cat litter, leashes, kennels, office supplies, and so much more! This is just a picture of SOME of the donations. More donations came in after these pictures were taken.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this community service project such a success! The Newton County Animal Shelter came by today to pick up everything and were so grateful for our contributions. It was a great way to end an awesome week. ❤️

(Not all campers pictured. Photo was taken during dog biscuit making. 😜😂 It was a bit crazy.)

We had a great last day of camp! We started the day off with feeding the animals and tending to the daily farm chores. We then came in and made dog biscuits 🦴! This activity is always one of our campers’ favorite every year. It’s definitely one of the messiest things we do! After we cleaned up from our dog biscuits, we started cutting out the different parts for our pig dissection project 🐷.

After lunch, we continued working on cutting out our pig dissection project and then began putting the pieces together! We put together the entire body of the pig 🐖 , include all the internal organs. This lab simulated what we would have seen if we would have dissected a real pig.

We then took a break to cool off by making icecream 🍦! Our day ended with hanging out with the animals, checking on our Petri dishes 🧫 from Tuesday, and hanging out with our friends before we went home 🏠 !

Campers, thank you for joining us for another great year of Vet. Science Camp ! We think this has been the best one yet🤩! We have LOVED this week.

Parents, thank you so much for your continued support of our camp and our programs! We appreciate you allowing us to spend a week of summer with your kids. If we can ever do anything to assist you, please let us know!

Dr. Cecily Gunter
[email protected]

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Day 4 of Vet Camp started with feeding the farm animals 🐖 and checking on everything before it got too hot. We then had a special guest, D.J. Dobbs, come and talk to us about working with exotic animals🐪🐊🦜. Thanks D.J. for spending the morning with us!

We then discussed how injuries 🤕 in humans and animals have similarities and differences but when we treat animals, we have to be careful because our patients aren’t able to speak and often tend to be more difficult to work with. We learned the basics of applying bandaging 🩹 and got to practice our new skills on our friends. That’s why many of our campers may have come home with “fake injuries” and vet tape 😉. We then checked on our Petri dishes 🧫 from Tuesday to see if we had any growth,and boy were we surprised 😷🤢! It appears that the floor and hamster cage seem to be the most “impressive” growth so far…

After lunch Dr. Pollard joined us to talk about how Animal Science and Veterinary Science play a role in the Wildlife 🦌 and Natural Resource 🦆world. He even brought in a ton of his furs, skulls, and jawbones for campers to look at and feel. These materials are used by his students in his classes to learn identification. Thanks Dr. Pollard for joining us!

We ended the day learning about the different types of injections 💉 and how to administer them properly. Campers used an orange to practice administering intramuscular and subcutaneous injections. If done correctly, campers had one color liquid in the middle of the orange (this was the intramuscular injection) and a different color could be seen on the inside of the orange peel (this was the subcutaneous injection).

We only have one day of camp left 🥹! If you have any donations for our community service project, be sure to bring them in tomorrow! Campers, make sure to get some good sleep… we have a big day tomorrow 🤩!!

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Day 3 of Vet Camp started out with checking on the animals on the farm 🐔. We then came inside and learned about barber pole worms💈 and how we can check goats and lambs to see if they need to be treated for worms using FAMACHA. This method checks the color of the animals’ eyelids 👁 . Our campers checked our school goats 🐐 to see if they needed to be treated and determined they were fine!

After our lesson on FAMACHA we talked about terrariums and the animals that can live in them🦎. We discussed the different requirements these animals have and how these needs can be met within a terrarium. Campers were then challenged to draw out a blueprint ✍️ of a terrarium for an animal of their choice.

We then had the pleasure of having Officer Dustin Johnson, with his K9 partner Bono 🐕, from the Covington Police Department 🚔 join us. Officer Johnson talked to us about how he got started working with Bono and what all Bono does to help our community. We appreciate Officer Johnson and the Covington Police Department for their continued support 💙!

After lunch, campers completed their terrarium designs and were surprised with their own terrariums to take home. Campers were able to go outside and find items 🪷to help bring their terrarium ideas to fruition.

To end the day, we learned about different types of sutures 🧵. As a way to practice sutures, we cut down pool noodles into 12in. pieces and placed foam sheets on the noodles. We then cut the foam to serve as our “wounds”. Using sewing needles🪡 and floss, we were able to practice our different sutures on our wound. The best part is that all of our campers were able to keep their “practice wounds” and can continue to practice at home!

Don’t forget, if you’re planning on bringing in items for our community service project, we only have 2 days left! 👍

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Day 2 of Vet Camp was another busy one! We started things off by learning common dog 🐶 and cat 🐱 restraints. For dogs, campers learned the lateral recumbency, used for giving examinations, and the sternal recumbency, used for giving IV injections💉. For cats, campers also learned the stretch, commonly used when giving intramuscular and intraperitoneal injections.

After restraints, we talked about the impact Temple Grandin has had on the cattle industry 🐄 and how we can reduce fear in the way we handle animals. Groups were then challenged to create a way to move a mouse 🐁 from one area to another, utilizing the “Reduced Fear Handling Method”. Groups brainstormed ideas, created blueprints, built their designs, and then, tested their projects using mice 🐭.

After our groups were done, we discussed microbiology and campers collected microbe samples around the school to inoculate in a growing medium 🧫. We will be checking on our samples the rest of the week to track the growth 🔬.

After lunch, we had a special visitor, Moose, the GSP/ Lab puppy. We then went over the similarities and differences in animal skeletal systems 🩻 and campers made 3-D skeletal models using pipe cleaners and noodles to represent different bones🦴.

We then talked about the important role blood 🩸 plays in animals’ bodies and discussed the different parts of blood. To get a better understanding, we made a mixture of cereal, m&m’s, and chocolate chips. The cereal represented red blood cells, the m&m’s represented white blood cells, and the chocolate chips represented platelets. Campers took their mixture and counted how many of each part they had. If they had “perfect blood” they had about 92% cereal, 2% m&m’s, and 6% chocolate chips.

And of course, we ended our day hanging out with our favorite class rabbit🐰!

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

We had a great first day of Vet Camp 🐶! Campers started the day off with learning all about the importance of OSHA and how OSHA is used in animal occupations. To show off our new skills, we then had a scavenger hunt to find different safety signs and symbols hidden around the basement ☣️. We also discussed what PPE is and the different components of PPE in a Vet. Practice ⛑. After our scavenger hunt, we did a tour of the school farm where we got to see all the animals and help with their morning feedings 🐷. We then came in washed our hands and used Glo-Germ to see how well we washed. Glo-Germ shined fluorescent green under our black light on spots we missed 🦠. It was then time for lunch!

After lunch we discussed how to scrub 🫧 in for surgeries and groups made short videos demonstrating the steps. We then talked about the importance of knowing how to tie proper knots when restraining animals and practiced our skills in tying square knots by making square knot bracelets 🪢. We ended the day with learning how to properly handle and hold chickens 🐔.

It was a busy day but so much fun. We’re looking forward to another great day tomorrow! Parents, you should have received a letter this afternoon about our special Community Service Project this week! Let us know if you have any questions. We’re excited for that new addition this year.

And last but not least, if you were wondering about camp shirts 👕, we will be passing them out tomorrow. We ran out of time today! 🙂

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

2022 NCCA FFA Vet. Science Camp

We have a few spots still available. Don't miss out! If you have any questions, please email Dr. Gunter at [email protected]

2022 NCCA FFA Vet. Science Camp 9NCCA FFA proudly presents… Veterinary Science Camp Veterinary Science Camp is for students entering into 4th-9th grade, who have an interested in learning about the veterinary and animal science field. Topics of the camp include animal handling, breed identification, community service projects ge...

2022 NCCA FFA Vet. Science Camp

The 2022 NCCA FFA Vet. Science Camp registration form is now live! We will be handling registrations online this year. To register, click on the following link. Camp will be June 27- July 1.

https://2022-vetcamp.cheddarup.com

Vet. Camp is open to any student entering into 4th-9th grade that have an interest in the Veterinary and Animal Science field.

Due to space restrictions, only 50 campers will be accepted. If you have any questions, please email Dr. Gunter at [email protected]

2022 NCCA FFA Vet. Science Camp NCCA FFA proudly presents… Veterinary Science Camp Veterinary Science Camp is for students entering into 4th-8th grade, who have an interested in learning about the veterinary and animal science field. Topics of the camp include animal handling, breed identification, community service projects gea...

The registration form for this summer’s NCCA FFA: Vet. Science Camp will open next week! Be sure to follow our page for updates.

Vet Camp will be the week of June 27- July 1 this year.

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Last day of Vet Camp was awesome! We started the day with checking on animals and then focused on learning about pigs. This included care for new pigs and ear notching. To showcase our knowledge of ear notching, we made headbands with pig ears and notched our birthdays on the ears. After ear notching, we learned how to use FAMACHA to check lambs and goats for worms.

After lunch we dressed out for surgery and performed sutures on bananas. We ended the day with lots of animal time, dog grooming, and enjoying our last day together.

Parents, thank you so much for letting your students spend the week with us. We’ve had a great time and hope that everyone enjoyed it.

Enjoy the rest of your summer and I hope to see everyone again next year!

- Dr. Cecily Gunter

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Photos from NCCA FFA: Vet Science Camp's post

Day 4 of Vet Camp was a busy one! We started things off with making Dog Treats. Groups worked together to read the recipe and make double batches. Once made, campers cut the treats out using our bone cookie cutters. Some campers got creative and made their own designs too. After making dog treats, Dr. Pollard talked to us about honey bees. He even brought in a frame from the school hives for students to look at.

After lunch, we decorated our dog treat containers and packed them full of treats. We then had a special visitor, Lola the Cat and her 4 kittens. Campers learned all about how to care for kittens and got to see the kittens before they went back to be with mom. We then had 5 bottle baby goats join us. They definitely added a wild side to camp today! Speaking of goats, we ended today with an introduction of what FAMACHA is and will get to learn the steps of FAMACHA tomorrow.

It’s been a busy week and hard to believe we only have one day left. Excited for tomorrow!!

Parents:

We truly hope that your campers have enjoyed their week with us! We have loved being able to share our passion for Animal Science and Veterinary Science with everyone!

Please continue to follow our Vet. Science Camp page for updates on future camp dates. If you’re interested in keeping up with the projects that we have going on in our FFA Chapter, please follow us at Newton College & Career Academy FFA. We also have an adult education program, Newton County Young Farmers, that is open to anyone over the age of 17 (you don’t have to be young or a farmer to join!).

Please let me know if we can ever assist you with anything. We have enjoyed having your students with us this week and we hope to see you at our next event!

Thanks,

Cecily Gunter
NCCA Vet. Science Trainer