South Lenoir FFA delivers on promise of summer fun
The fun LCPS promised students at its Summer Enrichment Academy arrived at Moss Hill Elementary School by land and by air courtesy of FFA students from South Lenoir High School.
The high school students and their FFA advisors added a hands-on seed germination lab to a recent day’s schedule for K-3 students and treated students in grades four and five to a drone demonstration.
FFA students from South Lenoir High School supervise as Summer Enrichment Academy students in grades kindergarten through third learn how to germinate sunflower seeds in a cup in an exercise designed to link kids to agriculture at Moss Hill Elementary School recently.
The younger students were taught how to germinate sunflower seeds using cups, expanding soil medium and watering techniques. FFA officers taught each class, according to their grade level, the importance of agriculture and how the use of seeds to grow crops are an important part of our health.
For the drone demonstration, fourth and fifth graders circulated a grid that allowed them to see themselves through drone video footage in real-time and were able to record a message that was delivered to students working on another part of campus. Some students got a chance to fly the drone, using the controller’s internal navigation technology.
“Certainly, we believe these types of creative lessons that incorporate both hands-on learning and new technologies engage students and are exciting for them,” Joseph Noble, one of the advisors who accompanied the South Lenoir students, said. “Children are eager to learn and eager to engage in new learning, they are curious and full of questions, and we are confident that the district fulfilled its promises to deliver fun-filled learning daily.”
An aerial photo taken from a drone piloted by South Lenoir High School teacher and FFA advisor Joseph Noble, seated in red shirt, shows fourth and fifth graders attending Summer Enrichment Academy at Moss Hill Elementary School during a recent demonstration designed to link technology and modern agriculture.
Jeremy Barnett, the Moss Hill principal who ran the summer school for students from Moss Hill, Pink Hill and Southwood, said the South Lenoir contingent connected fun activities to modern agriculture in a way that should make the lessons stick with younger students.
“Watching the faces of the fourth and fifth graders as the drone flew over the school and took their pictures and watching the K-3 kids and how excited they were when they were planting and then taking their flowers home, I think maybe it sparked something in them going forward,” Barnett said.
Representing the FFA were South Lenoir students Deral Raynor, Emma Raynor, Rachel Noble, Brody Lynch and Callie Shackelford. Advisor Josh Singleton accompanied the group along with Joseph Noble.