On September 18th, 2025, Liberty held its annual FFA LEAD and agriculture day. Liberty Elementary Agriculture Day (LEAD) is where several FFA students from Liberty teach fourth graders from around the county about FFA and what it is. FFA has a goal to inspire more people to join FFA in middle school. The fourth graders learn about different tools and animals that can be used in FFA. Liberty FFA students are helping younger kids learn about agriculture due to their only being 2% of farmers still actively working on farms.
Liberty has been holding this event for eleven years. Liberty also starts to plan for this event by having students run a station with another member or by themselves to teach the 4th graders about each station. It takes about a month for this event to get put together and make it a great event for the visiting schools.
Some FFA students were showing different animals used in farms, such as a cows, calves, sheep, goats, and a rabbit. FFA students got to teach the fourth graders about each animal, and what they do to contribute to farming life and community. The fourth graders got to pet the animals and see how the animals felt while their instructor was talking about the animal.
Other activities FFA students taught were fishing, hunting and the water cycle. For hunting, fourth graders got to learn about different parts of an animal and different items that are used in hunting. WIth fishing, they learned about different types of fish and what to use, having a permit, the size, and basic knowledge of fishing. To go with fishing, fourth graders learned about the water cycle, and how it helps with agriculture and how it benefits the crops.
Another station was showing different types of crops and what they do, flowers and landscaping. At the crops station, students were showing that food the fourth graders eat, like pizza, cereal and pasta, contain crops grown by farmers. FFA students also talked about different types of flowers and parts of flowers. With landscaping, fourth graders were shown how to landscape, where you can, and what landscaping is about.
There were a few other stations where FFA members talked about small engines and tractors. The fourth grade students were shown how small engines work and different parts of a small engine. They also showed the fourth graders how tractors are used on farms and why they’re helpful on farms.
There were other activities that were letting the kids have fun while still learning. One activity was showing kids different types of milk, almond and regular, showing the difference of where it comes from. Another group explained what pig ear notching is, and how it’s helpful, while getting their own sets of pig ears to wear. Fourth graders learned about tools and made wooden porcupines with nails and blocks. At the end of their trip, the fourth graders got to ride a hay ride around the school.
Since the event takes so long to plan, it needs to be done very well. This year, it was a big success with 301 students attending. This event is important to many, including FFA students and staff. “The importance of LEAD is to teach the kids why we love and cherish agriculture” freshman Justyss MIller-Banks said, “Eventually, they will be Virginia’s future, so we teach them what we know as a guide.
