DeKalb County schoolchildren learn about farm safety

SYCAMORE – Grade school-aged children got an opportunity to learn about farm safety during a day camp Wednesday hosted by the DeKalb County Farm Bureau at Jonamac Orchard.

More than 100 campers between the ages of 8 and 12 spent six hours Wednesday learning about potential dangers found on farms in DeKalb County.

Farm Bureau Foundation and Outreach Director Anna Schelkopf said the program is intended to help prevent traumatic experiences on farms and elsewhere by educating children on the various hazards they could come across as they grow older.

“I think my favorite part is that kids are going to go home from this and hopefully avoid an injury or an accident because of this,” Schelkopf said. “I like the variety, too. We used to focus solely on rural kids, and now we’ve kind of branched out to a variety of areas throughout the county, so all sorts of kids can learn things.”

Being an agricultural business in the community, we think it’s really important for kids to learn how to be safe on the farm. Whether they live on one [or] have friends or family on one, it’s just such a valuable experience that we think everybody should have an opportunity to participate in.”

—  Jenna Spychal, Jonamac Orchard co-owner

Farm safety campers took part in 12 interactive and educational sessions designed to teach them how to deal with hazards found on farms, in rural areas and along roads. Session topics included how to stay safe while in or around bicycles, farm machinery, ATVs, various chemicals, fire, grain bins and more.

Schelkopf said the single-day camp has been a biennial program for the past 30 years. Since 2000, it has been hosted at Jonamac Orchard, 19412 Shabbona Road in Malta.

One of the orchard’s owners, Jenna Spychal – a third-generation member of her family’s orchard business – said she takes pride in being able to host the educational program.

“Being an agricultural business in the community, we think it’s really important for kids to learn how to be safe on the farm. Whether they live on one [or] have friends or family on one, it’s just such a valuable experience that we think everybody should have an opportunity to participate in,” Spychal said.

Jonamac Orchard, which has seasonal agritainment, will open to the public for the fall season Aug. 21. Representatives from Bayer, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, the DeKalb and Malta fire departments, Faivre Farms and other area businesses also were present at the camp. They helped children identify dangers and learn safety procedures for situations that pertained to their respective expertise.

Schelkopf said she hopes the camp, which cost $10 to attend, helps children stay safe.

“I think just in general, people need to make sure their children are learning about safety because you don’t always know what is a hazard until you’ve been taught about it,” Schelkopf said.