Winfield Scott students mark Kansas Day

Shirley Palmer shares some Kansas trivia with students at Winfield Scott during Kansas Day activities on Friday morning at the school.(Laurie Sisk/Tribune)

Winfield Scott Elementary students are probably a little more knowledgeable about their home state after two days of activities centering around the history and trivia of Kansas.

The activities, ranging from beekeeping to steer roping, were organized in conjunction with Kansas Day, which was Tuesday and marked the 152nd birthday of the Sunflower State.

Events began Friday with a yarn spinning demonstration, Kansas trivia and all things cowboy as students at the school delved into some of the lesser known facts about Kansas and its rich history.

Fort Scott Community College rodeo team members Ty Hamm, left, and Alex Edmonds show students at Winfield Scott some of the equipment they use during Kansas Day activities on Friday morning at the school.(Laurie Sisk/Tribune)

Lisa Johnson told students about the process of spinning yarn, bringing in an actual spinning wheel and wool from angora goats for the demonstration.

Meanwhile, down the hall in the cafeteria, four Fort Scott Community College rodeo team members taught children what kind of equipment and expertise it takes to be a rodeo cowboy -- or cowgirl. Ty Hamm, saddle bronc rider and Alex Edmonds, bareback rider, brought in plenty of equipment for the kids, with detailed explanations of each item's purpose, while Noel Hamm and Jaice Cross gave a demonstration on roping with a small metal facsimile of a steer for kids to rope.

Longtime educator Shirley Palmer shared information on everything from the state reptile (the salamander) to the state song ("Home on the Range") with students.

Fort Scott Community College rodeo team member Jaice Cross shows Winfield Scott second-grader Lillian Collins how to use a lasso during Kansas Day activities on Friday morning at the school.(Laurie Sisk/Tribune)

Activities continued on Tuesday, the actual anniversary of Kansas being admitted into the union as the 34th state in 1861. Children were treated to a beekeeping exhibition, a butter churning demonstration, a Civil War reenactor and even got to make their own sunflower cookies.

Leslie Proffitt, a teacher at Winfield Scott, didn't have to look far to find a presentter for her classroom. Knowing that the state insect of Kansas is the bee, Proffitt called upon her father, Ted McDonald, an experienced beekeeper from Carl Junction, Mo., to show children the ins- and -outs of beekeeping. McDonald and his wife Donna McDonald are owners of the Heritage Family Farm and explained how bees pollinate the berry plants on their farm and how they then derive honey from the bees.

Glenda Miller also was on hand Tuesday with a nearly 100-year-old butter churn to show kids how cream is churned into butter and Galen Ewing, park ranger at the Fort Scott National Historic Site, came to the school dressed as a Civil War Union soldier with plenty of civil war artifacts in tow.

Ted McDonald, of the Heritage Family Farm in Carl Junction, Mo., demonstrates some of the equipment used in beekeeping as his daughter, Winfield Scott teacher Leslie Proffitt, looks on Tuesday during Kansas Day activities at the school.(Laurie Sisk/Tribune)

Children also were given the opportunity to make their own sunflower cookies using candy corn decorations for petals as an extra treat on Tuesday.

Winfield Scott first-grader McAllister Wiggan makes a sunflower cookie in honor of Kansas Day on Tuesday at the school.(Laurie Sisk/Tribune)

Civil War reenactor Galen Ewing shows Winfield Scott students some of the gear used by Civil War-era soldiers during Kansas Day activities on Tuesday. (Laurie Sisk/Tribune)