A dozen budding leaders from the Liberty FFA chapter joined hundreds of students from across the state at the annual Ignite Conference held at Fonda-Fultonville Central School on Feb. 28 . The Ignite Conference series continues to be a cornerstone of student development, offering specialized tracks including SPARK for middle school exploration, FUEL for high school self-leadership, and ILLUMINATE for advanced community impact.

The delegation, composed of five seventh graders and seven eighth graders, participated in the SPARK focus track, a specialized leadership program designed specifically for middle school members to discover their unique talents and interests within agriculture.

“At first there were so many people it was kind of intimidating, but it was really great,” said eighth-grader and chapter Vice President Luna Pixie Hulse. “Even when we split into groups with different schools nobody judged it was like everyone immediately fit in and accepted everyone else.”

The highlights of the day went beyond the workshops, as Liberty students had the opportunity to meet and speak with the New York State FFA Officer team, a National FFA Officer, and the head of the New York State FFA staff.

“We got to know so many people from all over the state, it’s usually hard for me to talk to new people but even talking to the FFA state officers was cool, it was one of my favorite parts!” said seventh-grader and Secretary Raegan Wagner.

During these conversations, the students shared the powerful origin story of the Liberty FFA chapter—a journey that began with a single student finding their voice and sharing their passion for agriculture with others to build the program from the ground up.

The story resonated so deeply with the state leadership that the New York State FFA staff has invited the Liberty chapter to be honored at the State FFA Convention in May. They expressed interest in sharing their inspiring story of growth and advocacy with the thousands of students and chapters who will be in attendance from across New York.

“Our students plan to use everything they learned at Ignite to continue leading and growing agriculture education and the FFA within our district and community,” said chapter Advisor Ms. Cathryn Dymond.

They haven’t wasted any time implementing what they’ve learned either.

On Wednesday, March 4, at the FFA chapter’s first meeting of the month, students who attended the conference presented on what they learned and led the membership in some of the leadership activities they participated in during the conference.

“We learned about how we can make our own personalized experience in FFA that can help us through high school, college and our career,” said seventh-grader and Treasurer Sophie Zayas. “I learned that there is so much more to FFA than I could have ever imagined, and I can’t wait to do things like state convention, travel to nationals to meet people from all over the country, and take more different classes in high school.”

Students also shared the workbook they received at the conference to showcase the variety of topics that were discussed and explored, each being personalized to the individual student’s self-discovery and reflections throughout the sessions.

It wasn’t just students learning at the conference.

While students were building connections, co-advisers and Liberty agriculture educators Ms. Dymond and Ms. Brandi Mazzucca participated in concurrent professional development hosted by the Cornell Agricultural Education Outreach Teacher Services team. During the program, they explored the newly released National Program Benchmarks, a modern assessment framework that replaced the National Quality Program Standards to stay relevant to current industry needs.

Through this session, Ms. Dymond and Ms. Mazzucca:

• Evaluated the Liberty agricultural education program to determine current strengths and opportunities for growth.
• Refined goals and developed strategic pathways to strengthen the local FFA chapter and classroom offerings.
• Acquired tools to bring back to the Liberty community to grow and strengthen the “three-circle model” of agricultural education: classroom instruction, FFA leadership, and Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE).

“The  goal is to keep this momentum going, with the hopes of expanding these FFA opportunities to the high school in the near future,” Ms. Mazzucca said.

History, mathematics and global learning were brought to life for fifth and sixth grade students at Liberty Middle School by continuing a meaningful classroom tradition introduced nearly three decades ago during the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

When LMS math teacher Miss Danielle Cummins was a fifth-grade student at Duggan Elementary School in the Monticello Central School District, her teacher, Mr. Michael Cordisco, created an engaging, project-based learning experience centered on the Winter Olympics. Each day, students predicted which countries would medal in upcoming events by placing a clip labeled with their chosen country onto a coffee can. The following day, the class tracked actual medal counts on a large bar graph and analyzed the results together.

The project not only strengthened students’ understanding of data, graphing and probability, but also deepened their knowledge of countries around the world — a key component of the social studies curriculum. The combination of real-world events, friendly competition, and hands-on learning left a lasting impression on LMS math teacher Miss Cummins.

This year, Miss Cummins and social studies teacher Ms. Nicole Gabay re-created that same excitement in their classrooms during the 2026 Winter Olympic games in Italy.

“This project was incredibly meaningful to me because it allowed me to share a lesson I loved as a fifth-grader with my own fifth- and sixth-grade students,” Miss Cummins said.

During social studies, students researched participating countries and learned about Olympic events before making their medal predictions. In math, students independently tracked medal counts on their own bar graphs, applying grade-level skills in data collection, representation, and analysis.

“I enjoyed our Olympic project because I liked graphing the medal count,” fifth-grader Avianna Gibbs said.

The highlight of the experience was the opportunity for students to earn authentic Olympic pins for correct predictions, the students said.

Mr. Cordisco mailed a package containing more than 100 pins he had collected over many Winter Olympic years. Students selected pins, celebrated their successes, and even traded pins with classmates — fostering collaboration, sportsmanship, and a strong sense of classroom community.

“It was cool that we got to learn the history of the Olympics in a fun way,” fifth-grader Brantley Olivo said. “Thank you, Mr. Cordisco!”

The cross-curricular project exemplifies the power of project-based learning. Ms. Gabay and Miss Cummins, with their teacher assistants Mrs. Lorraine Kelder and Mrs. Jaqueline Gieger, respectively, said they are proud to continue a tradition that not only enhances academic learning but also connects generations of students through shared experiences.

“It’s a reminder of the lasting impact a great teacher can have—not just on academic growth, but on the future paths of their students,” Miss Cummins said. “I offer a heartfelt thank you to Mr. Cordisco for instilling a love of learning in his students and for continuing to share his generosity and passion with future generations.”