By Blake Jackson
About 250 fourth-grade students from the Allen County Intermediate Center (ACIC) participated in a hands-on safety education program September 18, 2026, at the Allen County Fairgrounds.
The Allen County Farm Bureau Progressive Agriculture Safety Day covered farm, household and everyday safety topics through demonstrations and interactive activities.
The event marked the fourth consecutive year that local organizations have partnered to provide the program for fourth graders. Students from nine classrooms rotated through 12 safety stations, with members of the Allen County-Scottsville High School (AC-SHS) Future Farmers of America (FFA) helping organize and lead activities.
“Our FFA kiddos are leading each classroom through 12 stations that the (organizing) committee felt that children needed awareness about,” explained FFA Advisor Nicki Towe. “We’ve been planning this since January.”
Students involved in the school’s Health Science and Future Educators programs also assisted with the sessions.
“We just want our youth to help educate these fourth graders and maybe save lives and make them better informed about their safety,” Towe added.
Lessons covered a broad range of subjects, including animal encounters, lawn mower and tractor safety, ATVs, electrical hazards, chemicals, water, sun exposure and internet use. Additional topics included vaping awareness, staying home alone, food and nutrition, first aid, and emergency response.
Farm safety received particular attention because Allen County has about 900 farms. Kim Field, with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Farm Safety, Rural Health and Raising Hope programs, used a miniature tractor and mannequin to demonstrate the dangers associated with tractor rollovers.
“We want to make sure everybody stays safe when they’re on the farm, because it only takes a couple of seconds to get hurt, but it also takes a couple of seconds to be safe,” Field emphasized.
Field explained that rollover protection structures and seat belts can help protect tractor operators during an overturn.
“If you don’t have your seat belt on, you’re going to fly out,” Field said. “You can either land under the tractor or away from the tractor, and you can get seriously hurt that way.”
Her key message was simple: “Seat belts and roll bars save lives.”
Water safety was presented by US Army Corps of Engineers Park Rangers Alicia White and Adam Vance, who demonstrated proper life-jacket selection and fitting and discussed how to respond during water emergencies.
“Our biggest takeaway for the kids is that they’re always safe on the water and wearing life jackets that are properly fitted for them,” White stressed.
Other stations addressed chemical safety, fire prevention, and electrical hazards. The Scottsville Fire Department used a mobile safety trailer to teach emergency procedures, while Tri-County Electric’s Brian Wood demonstrated the dangers of high-voltage electricity.
Through demonstrations and student participation, the program gave fourth-graders practical safety lessons for use at home, on farms and around water and electricity.
Photo Credit: allen-county-farm-bureau
Categories: Kentucky, Education