By Spencer Highsmith and Madison Britt
On May 10-11, 2023, Coffee County Young Farmers and FFA invited local pre-K and kindergarten classes to participate in the 2023 Ag Literacy Day held at the Coffee Middle School – Billy Walker Livestock Facility.
There were over 420 pre-K students the first day and over 650 Kindergarten students the second day. The groups went around to nine different stations to read a book at each and participate in fun, educational activities about a variety of agricultural topics. Topics included peanuts, cotton, goats, sheep, hogs, horses, cattle, plants and pollinators, rabbits, chickens, dairy cows, and farming equipment.
Each station was completely taught by high school and middle school FFA members. Activities included simulations of shearing sheep, feeding a hog, milking a dairy cow as well as handling Coffee County grown raw cotton, climbing into a saddle, dressing in beekeeping attire, handling parts of a bee hive box, sitting in a tractor, and sampling ice cream.
Many special guests made appearances in the barn. The children were able to come face-to-face with and pet a horse, cow, young hog, goat, chicks, and rabbits. At the conclusion of the event, each student was able to take home an educational bag filled with items that extended the learning and activities, beyond just that day. The educational bag was made possible due to generous Ag Commodity Commission sponsors: Georgia Cotton Commission, Georgia Peanut Commission, The Dairy Alliance, Georgia Beef Board, Georgia Department of Agriculture, Coffee County Farm Service Agency, Lasseter Tractor Company of Douglas and Coffee County Farm Bureau.
Special thanks goes to Coffee County Extension | 4-H for helping work with students. The future of agriculture is bright with high school and middle students like these, teaching younger generations about the impact and importance of agriculture while growing as leaders within the ag industry at the 2023 Ag Literacy Day.