November 29, 2025 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

SJO FFA holds petting zoo

An annual tradition is taking place at St. Joseph-Ogden High School today—the SJO FFA petting zoo to celebrate National FFA Week.


The petting zoo features 16 animals plus six baby chicks, said FFA Reporter Mallory Ames.


The animals include two donkeys, two pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks and a llama.


Ames said the FFA members bring in as many animals as they can and have often raised the animals since they were born.


Ames said the petting zoo is an important service to the community.
“It’s important for us to have the petting zoo because many students don’t have ag backgrounds,” she said. ‘So it’s often the first time for them to see these animals.”


The petting zoo invites students from St. Joseph Grade School and the Prairieview-Ogden school district to attend. The grade school students get to learn about animals and complete activities like coloring and planting seeds.


“We absolutely love it,” Ames said. “I really enjoy teaching the students because most of them have no idea about agriculture and they are all so adorable.”


The public is welcome to attend the petting zoo which is open until 2 p.m. in the agriculture room of St. Joseph-Ogden High School.

Banner
Related Posts

Homeward Bound: Piper’s incredible adventure comes to an end

September 23, 2020

September 23, 2020

Piper, the most famous Labrador in St. Joseph, is finally back home. The dog spent seven days exploring St. Joseph...

SJO Drama department is ‘All Shook Up’

April 5, 2019

April 5, 2019

“All Shook Up” has been almost a year and a half in the making. St. Joseph-Ogden Drama Director Chandler Dalton...

How I get it done …. with Jennifer Huls Wayland

October 14, 2022

October 14, 2022

We asked local business owners to describe their leadership style and how they make decisions. This week we talked to...

‘I have always known that the community of St. Joseph values and supports its schools’

November 7, 2023

November 7, 2023

Lance Landeck knows how important its schools are to St. Joseph. That’s why he applied to be the new superintendent...

SJO could return to full in-person instruction

March 3, 2021

March 3, 2021

St. Joseph-Ogden High School is starting to plan for the future. Superintendent Brian Brooks said the school is looking into...

‘No one believed in our kids and our teams more than he did’

April 24, 2024

April 24, 2024

Dan Wright loved life.  He loved his family. He loved his community.  Wright passed away on March 19 in Florida. ...

St. Joseph Middle School 6th Grade High Honor Roll

November 14, 2023

November 14, 2023

FIRST NAME LAST NAME Jovie Anderson Adalyn Bacon June Barnhart Elijah Bronowski Ethan Burnett Bowen Crackel Kolton Cruz Cameron Daly...

‘It could allow us to avoid having our school year extended past Memorial Day’

February 3, 2022

February 3, 2022

St. Joseph-Ogden Superintendent Brian Brooks said that having an E-learning day yesterday and today made sense for the district. “We...

SJO High Honor Roll

January 11, 2020

January 11, 2020

FreshmenActon, AlyssaAtwood, McGwire Baker, Kaytlyn Baltzell, Olivia Carter, Maddux Casanova, Yamilka Chambers, Ariana Coursey, Cale Cromwell, Aiden Dahman, Zachary Elsbernd,...

SJO fourth quarter honor roll

June 2, 2021

June 2, 2021

Freshmen Alewelt, EdwardAllinger, KadenArmstrong, AdenBott, MyaCarter, PaytonChahine, MayaDenhart, GarrettFrasca, JosephGoldenstein, GraceHayes, JayciMaroon, CarsonMcBride, SethSantiago, DanielWilson, SpencerWright, Mitchell Sophomores Adams, MadisonAlwes,...

Kids Say

April 16, 2019

April 16, 2019

Every week we ask five students from a local school to answer a question on a worksheet. This week the...

SJO 2021-2022 1st Quarter High Honor Roll

October 29, 2021

October 29, 2021

Freshmen Barton, RylieBeckett, EJBenoit, AudreyBonny, SarahBrown, LandonClampitt, MadisonCoffey, HaydenDavenport, AerolynDewese, LaurenDietiker, EllaDitchfield, LukeEnnis, JacksonFranzen, SavannaFunk, AddisonGaines, KaidenGerdes, TaytonGetty, OliviaHamilton, MakennahHarms,...

Safety concern prompts letter to parents

March 2, 2019

March 2, 2019

The system worked how it is supposed to. That is what St. Joseph-Ogden Superintendent Brian Brooks stressed in a letter...

Lending a hand: how to help out the Short family

March 25, 2019

March 25, 2019

Amy Short and her family don’t like to ask for help. So their friends are doing it for them. Amy...

‘Her heart was golden’ — Short loses battle with cancer

June 10, 2019

June 10, 2019

Nine years ago, Sarah Logan Loomis raised her hand at a meeting of parents. The meeting was for her daughter,...

Comments
Leave a Reply