(Akron) — Members of the Akron-Westfield FFA informed nearly 185 elementary students about the dangers and hazards of farming during a farm safety course held on Thursday. Allyson Ten Napel serves as an officer with the Akron-Westfield FFA program. She says students rotated among eight different stations learning about how to be safe on the farm.
The FFA chapter officer says the farm safety session is taught to the elementary students on an every other year basis. In addition to offering the farm safety course, the Akron-Westfield FFA chapter also held a Food for America program. Laken Mullinix, is the past president of the Akron-Westfield FFA chapter, but now has recently been elected as a state officer. Mullinix says Food for America is a program to help younger students understand where their food originates.
Ten Napel estimated that at least half of the elementary students currently reside on a farm. Mullinix says many younger students are surprised to know the origins of their food, and they don’t realize how commodities are processed into common foods.
Ten Napel says many of the students were surprised that wheat and oats eventually becomes breakfast cereal.
Mullinix says she instructed the young elementary students about the many consumer dairy products made from milk.
Akron-Westfield FFA Chapter
Each of the elementary students were given a t-shirt commemorating the event.
