The State Fair of Texas is a 132-year-strong, Texas tradition that brings joy to thousands of people each year. The state fair works closely with Texas school districts to ensure students have the opportunity to enjoy the fair. 

“For as long as I can remember, the State Fair of Texas has always had a community outreach program,” principal Jon-Eric Ziaer said. “They incorporate opportunities for kids to be afforded the opportunity through their partnerships, to provide tickets so that students could go out and have the opportunity to be a part of the fair.” 

This opportunity provided by the State Fair of Texas  allows students the chance to connect with their loved ones and make memories.

“My best memory at the fair was my friend convincing me into riding this really scary ride that flipped upside down,” sophomore Annette Thomas said.  “It was terrifying, but it was the most lasting memory I have of the fair. I don’t really know the name of the ride but I think if she didn’t push me into doing it, I would have been really unhappy. But I’m glad we did.”

The State Fair’s main attraction is the rides; however, the Texas State Fair’s stated mission is to promote Texas agriculture, education, and community involvement. 

“You know, I think it’s a really fun experience,”  Ziaer said. “There’s a lot of interactive dynamics, for example, if we have students that are interested in agriculture, FFA, things like that, obviously, there’s a lot of live animal shows.”

The Reedy FFA chapter, in conjunction with other FISD chapters, recently took a field trip to the State Fair of Texas. The fair holds an annual stock show giving breeders the opportunity to show at a state-wide scale. 

“But a lot of people don’t know what showing is,” FFA vice president Leila Robetti said. “So they think we show the lambs and then they think we are just keeping the lamb in our backyards, and they just don’t know what we do with. And it’s not any lamb, it’s a show quality lamb. So we put a lot of money and time into it.”

Due to livestock production being a hands-on experience, students view opportunities like seeing the stock show as an important learning experience. 

“I think it’s important because we get to be around actual animals and livestock,” Thomas said. “Just being in a classroom and learning about them over a screen doesn’t fully show what it’s like, so actually getting to interact and see what they do for us is very helpful.”

While FFA is tightly connected to livestock, it appears that livestock is not where this organization ends. 

“People just have absolutely no idea what FFA is,” Robertti said. “So there are a lot of people who don’t want to go into farming and dismiss FFA because of the assumption that’s all it is, but it’s so much more than farming.”