A26-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 30, 1998
Ag Safety Workshops Provide Important Training
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
BEAVER SPRINGS (Snyder
Co.) Really great things often
come in (bam) packages.
Just ask Cynthia Shaffer, ag
instructor and FFA adviser at West
Snyder High School in Beaver
Springs.
In January at a national safety
workshop at the Crown Plaza
Hotel near the airport in Atlanta,
Ga., participants were handed a
box shaped like a bam, with a red
exterior and multicolored roof.
What was astonishing to those
who participated was what the box
contained.
Shaffer is convinced there is
enough resources and material in
the box than her students could
ever use for farm safety, she said.
The box contained a computer
CD-ROM, filled with an index
providing safety topics for a wide
range of farm and nonfarm activi
ties. She found a 50-page handy
resource guide for instructors of
farm safety. Shaffer also found
video tapes, stickers, signs, and
other material to help not only
teach children farm safety, but to
make children teachers of farm
safety.
The workshop in Atlanta was
cosponsored by a wide array of
commercial enterprises, including
large farm equipment, seed, chem
ical, and other companies. The
program,. coordinated by the
National FFA Foundation, is
called Partners For a Safer
Community.
National release of the project
began during the winter with the
training of 136 educators, com
munity representatives, and stu
dents representing 47 states in
Atlanta, Denver, and Minneapolis.
The purpose of the program: edu
cate instructors on the materials
available to teach farm and off
farm safety.
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The workshops were tested
through a test pilot project in Mis
souri before being used nation
wide. “A lot of research was put
into it, and it shows,” said Shaffer
of West Snyder High School.
“As an ag teacher, I wanted to
teach safety to my shop classes,”
she said. “But the material we used
worked better than anticipated.
The information was veiy valu
able. I found more information that
my students ever use in one box.”
There was concern among the
educators at the workshop that the
material was too complex to fully
integrate quickly midway in to the
school year’s curriculum. But
many schools elected to use the
resource guide and other materials
in the box right away, Shaffer
noted.
Some of Shaffer’s students
spoke about the importance of
safety through a series of radio pre
sentations. Importantly, on May
13, the FFA students (of which
safety training is required of all
first-year members) presented a
workshop to students in kindergar
ten through sixth grade during
Safety Day at West Beaver and
Beaver Adams elementary
schools.
During the Safety Day, the sixth
graders were provided information
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about gun safety. The fifth graders
were instructed on A TV and lawn
mower safety. Fourth graders stud
ied tractor and farm equipment
safety. Third graders were taught
fire and chemical safety. Second
grade students were given the bas
ics of first aid. First grade classes
were provided information on
strangers, dangers, and 911. And
the kindergarten classes were
taught animal safety.
Along with fellow FFA adviser
Steve Kline. Shaffer believes the
“box” could be effective during a
state safety workshop in
Pennsylvania.
As a result, working with Kerry
Hoffman, Penn State pesticide
education coordinator, a state
training workshop will be con
ducted Monday, Oct. 12, at a site to
be determined in the Hershey area.
The workshop will be coordinated
with the assistance of ag engineer
ing services at Penn State. More
about that will be available in a
later issue of Lancaster Farming.
The impressive part of the
national workshop training is that
it involved ag science students.
Carolyn Howard, daughter of
Mary Herman, Beavertown, parti
cipated in the national training.
Carolyn will be in the 10th grade at
West Snyder High School. Like
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many student representatives and
FFA’ers who take the course
(West Snyder FFA has a total of 6S
members), the course was
designed to allow students to leant
about safety and “a lot of guidance
and how to apply skills and leader
ship, much like county FFA lead
ership workshops,” said Shaffer.
The national workshop selected
younger students so they can spend
their remaining years in high
LEWISBURG (Union Co )
In a newly formed alliance with
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and Tomorrow ”
The seminar was held in May
at Northeastern Farm Credit
headquarters in Lewisburg.
More than 40 Farm Credit cus
tomers were in attendance.
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school imparting safety know
ledge to other students.
In the meantime. Shaffer said
that students and FFA members
will be continuing to make presen
tations at various activities, includ
ing farm organization meetings.
For more information about the
Partners program, contact Shaffer
at (717) 658-8144 or Kerry Hoff
man. (814) 865-2134.
seminar.
This alliance with American
Express came about as a result
of Farm Credit customers who
had questions regarding real
estate transfers and investment
issues. American Express
Financial Advisors offer a full
spectrum of services dealing
with these and other issues. #
Farm Credit customers inter
ested in learning more about
American Express Financial
Advisors should contact their
loan officer.
Financing
Is
Available
t ■