Station leader Fabian Cardenas leads third graders through the beef cattle station.
Ripon FFA puts on an “Elementary School Farm Day” event for its district’s third grade students. Members work together to make agriculture-focused presentations and activities, and station leaders work alongside agricultural businesses to give students an educational and entertaining experience.
“The main goal of the day is to expose students early in their life to what the agriculture industry is all about and help them grow into responsible consumers who understand the importance of the industry,” says Celeste Morino, an FFA advisor at Ripon High School in California.
How It Works
FFA members are thrilled to help with this event each year, but only 50 are chosen to lead it. These selected students help guide and teach an average of 250 elementary students from five schools.
Group leader Ben Rogers (wearing red) takes his group of elementary students to the almond station, where station leaders Dilawar Singh (left) and Trent Olmo (right) talk about the process of growing and harvesting almonds.
To kick off the event, FFA members introduce themselves and ask the young students questions to grasp their knowledge. Students from each school then rotate through eight-minute stations, where they learn all about animal husbandry and agriculture commodities like almonds.
The students are welcome to ask FFA members anything they are curious about in each station. Afterward, they check out machinery and take pictures to capture the moment. Students then go home with new knowledge and fun handouts.
Motivations and Impacts
“The reason I continuously love to help organize and work our Elementary School Farm Day is because I love working with the kids and teaching them so much about our FFA chapter,” says Ripon FFA Vice President Abigail Hendley. “It’s very rewarding to watch their love for agriculture grow.”
According to almond enthusiast Dilawar Singh, 80% of the world’s almonds are grown in the Central Valley of California. “This event is a great opportunity to teach third-graders about almonds, as they make up so much of California and its economy,” he says.
Thanks to the Ripon FFA Chapter and its community, young minds are becoming curious about agriculture.
