Polk County Education
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • October 28, 2015 17A
Dallas girl leads rabbit team to nationals Grow: Kids learn the
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — Emily
Roberts, a junior at Dallas
High School, wants to help
put Oregon on the map —
the rabbit map.
Roberts and a small team
of young rabbit breeders
have a chance to do just that
this weekend at the Ameri-
can Rabbit Breeders Associ-
ation (ARBA) National Con-
vention in Portland.
Oregon’s four-member
team got its first taste of na-
tional competition at last
year’s ARBA convention in
Texas — the time in a long
time that Oregon has sent a
team — and hopes to im-
prove on that performance.
“It will be a good show
though because the West
Coast is very competitive as
far as the quality of the ani-
mals go,” Roberts said. “We
have a lot of judges and a lot
of good breeders over here.”
Roberts has already made
a name for herself as a cavy
(guinea pigs) shower and
b r e e d e r, h a v i n g b e e n
crowned “queen” in the roy-
alty competition at the
American Cavy Breeders As-
sociation for two years in a
row.
She went to her first na-
tional competition in sev-
enth grade and has attended
more than 20 local and na-
tional-level shows each year
since she began working
cavies and rabbits.
Now, Roberts and the
small but mighty Oregon
team could be on the verge
of taking national titles on
their home turf.
She will be vying for the
title of youth rabbit queen.
The royalty competition has
five elements: application, 15
essay questions competitors
answer before the conven-
tion begins; timed judging;
breed identification; a 200-
question exam; and an inter-
view before a panel of judges.
Westminster
of Rabbits
What: American Rab-
bit Breeders Association
national convention.
When: Saturday
through Tuesday.
Where: Portland Expo
Center, 2060 North Ma-
rine Drive, Portland.
For more informa-
tion: www.arba.net/.
JENNIFER ROBERTS/ for the Itemizer-Observer
Emily Roberts works with her Himalayan rabbit, prepar-
ing for competitions.
Roberts said the pre-con-
vention front runners are on
the strong Washington state
team, but she’s calling her
team the rising star.
“The Oregon team has
gotten a lot of new kids who
are really excited about the
royalty competition, which
I’m really excited about that
because I want to see our
program grow,” Roberts
said.
They are off to a good
start.
The team attended the re-
cent Washington state com-
petition, getting second,
third and fourth placers in
the judging contest.
Roberts won three indi-
vidual titles, but couldn’t be
given the overall title of
queen because she was from
out of state. She was most
proud of her breed identifi-
cation title.
“Last year at nationals
that was my challenge,” she
said. “I’m amazed at how
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much I’ve learned.”
Perhaps she shouldn’t be.
Roberts keeps her ARBA
breed standard — or as
Roberts calls it, “the rabbit
bible” — with her at all
times.
“Where other girls have
compacts or makeup, she’s
got her ARBA standard in
her purse,” said Emily’s
mom, Jennifer Roberts,
smiling.
Jennifer, in addition to ac-
companying her daughter to
competitions, is constantly
challenging her to learn
more.
“You quiz over dinner and
when we are driving,” Jen-
nifer said. “We quiz while we
are waiting. We do mock in-
terviews.”
Emily spends hours at the
beginning and end of the
day caring for and working
with her rabbits and guinea
pigs — she will be taking a
number of them to the con-
vention, too.
With just days before the
start of competition, Emily is
about to see if all that prepa-
ration will propel her to na-
tional queen status.
“My goal is to introduce
myself to a lot of new kids
and make new friends.”
ropes of gardening
Continued from 18A
Small wild pansies need-
ed to be replanted away
from the strawberry bed and
with the other flowers,
onions needed to be planted
with garlic — winter crops.
Flowers will help feed the
pollinators throughout the
winter, Siegel said. She said
flowers will be planted at
the end of each row.
“If you put them in the
very middle, they’d be at-
tracted to the very middle
and see all the other things
along the way and do those
first,” suggested Tyler
Thompson, 7.
All of her students have
been very enthusiastic
about gardening, Siegel said.
“Some of the kids say, ‘I
just watch TV at home, I
want to do this instead,’”
she said.
While they’ve already
eaten most of the vegeta-
bles they grew this fall —
and loved them, Siegel
noted — there are plenty of
projects to keep the kids
busy and outdoors all win-
ter.
“The class will build fairy
houses, bird houses and
bird feeders, and keep the
pollinators fed,” she said.