Kakisa (Sep 24/04) - There may be a few pitchforks lying around Kakisa these days.

That's because Kakisa Lake school's five students, along with principal Marvin Lizotte and cultural instructor Jennifer Simba, took a tour of a few Alberta farms as part of a school trip a few weeks ago. There were some geology lessons mixed in for good measure -- and the pupils got a chance to get their hands dirty.

"They were picking potatoes and carrots for supper, and turnips and onions," Lizotte said of the trip to the High Level and Fort Vermilion areas. "Yeah, they all want to be farmers now."

At another farm, they learned more about the agricultural industry -- planting seeds, fertilizing, harvesting and the money generated by the industry. They played some paintball, too.

Driving in Lizotte's motorhome, they made a stop at his cousin's place to see her stable of horses. They also toured a forestry plant, boasting the world's largest log pile, and learned about the forestry process from selecting trees to milling at a chip-board plant.