FFA Teaches Farm Safety

By Morgan B.

Over 33 Iowan children are sent to the hospital each day in farming-related accidents. Members of the Roland-Story FFA are trying to lower this statistic by showing students how to be safe on the farm. 

On October 2, 2024, the Roland-Story FFA held their annual farm safety day for the 3rd grade students at Roland-Story Elementary. 

The third-graders spent a fun afternoon outdoors, traveling to each of the 10 stations to learn about certain aspects of outdoor safety. Stations included tractor, ATV, animal, first aid, fishing, my plate, sun, Iowa products, chemical, and grain bin safety. 

At a station, led by 2-4 high schoolers, the 3rd graders would learn how to be safe in that area. After instruction, they completed an activity or played a game related to what they learned. Every station also had visuals related to their topic. 

Visuals are a great way to help students remember what they are learning. Getting to sit on an ATV and seeing the parts the high school students are teaching them makes it memorable and easy to understand. 

An event as effective as this can’t just happen… without a lot of thought and preparation. 

In the weeks leading up to Farm Safety Day students signed up for the role they wanted. These roles include group leaders, station leaders, and photographers. 

Station leaders met over multiple seminars to plan out the details. Each group was responsible for creating their content and bringing in the materials they needed to run a successful station.

When the day of farm safety came, FFA members arrived 30 minutes before it began to set up and prepare for the students.

Finally, it was time for the 3rd graders to come to the field. They rotated through the stations in groups of ten. After twelve minutes they would move on to the next station under the guidance of their group leader. 

Finally, the last whistle blew and the 3rd graders went back to class while the high school students cleaned up.

After that, the FFA members had one more thing on their to-do list: eat pizza to celebrate another successful farm safety day. 

Location: Story City, IA 50248, USA

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