You will see some tractors, but also everything from lawn tractors to the combine in this photo. Drive Your Tractor to School Day is a chance to celebrate the area’s agriculture background as well as the students in the Agriculture Specialist High Skills Major program at North Dundas District High School. Courtesy Photo

CHESTERVILLE – It is increasingly important that schools, while making every attempt to provide relevant education, also recognize the unique character of the communities in which they exist. North Dundas District High School (NDDHS) Is a school that does this particularly well, and on regular basis. One day on which this is more apparent than most is Drive Your Tractor to School Day. This year, the annual event took place on Fri., June 5.

The event is supervised by two NDDHS teachers, Jennifer Onstein and April Richmire. It is a day for celebrating the Agriculture Specialist, High Skills Major students as the end of the school year approaches.  Students who are able drive their tractor to school and participate in a barbecue later in the morning.

Tractor is the catch-all term used to describe the various implements of husbandry (farm equipment) which appear on this special day. There are actual tractors, of course, but you might see anything from a huge combine to a small lawn tractor. Last year, for example, one of the lawn tractors broke down enroute, but it was picked up in the bucket of one of the larger tractors for the final leg of the journey. Helping your neighbour is understood to just be what you do.

Typically, the event includes the grade 11 and 12 students that are currently in the program, and the grade 10 students that are going to join next year. Graduating students receive hoodies which identify them as being a part of the  NDDHS SHSM (Specialist High Skills Major) program.

It is difficult to track back exactly how long the event has been taking place, but the best estimate is more than 15 years.

And while the day is about a bit of fun and celebration, that doesn’t mean that safety takes a back seat. Students have to be at least 16 to drive on the roadway, and rules of the road need to be followed, but for most of the students who have grown up in an agricultural community, these are things that have already been embedded in their consciousness. In farming, safety always needs to be at the top of the list. You are taught at an early age to respect the large pieces of equipment and to understand what safe operation looks like. It is a first thought, not an afterthought.

Different schools have different traditions, but they all matter as they help students to not only think of where they are going, but also to remember where they come from, and the community they can count on for support.