On March 11, Liberty Middle School hosted the Sweethearts and Heroes BRAVE program, bringing students together for an intensive day focused on leadership, empathy and building a culture of compassion.

Student leaders participated in a series of interactive experiences designed to shift perspectives from bystander to “Hero.” The day began with an Opening Circle, where students explored the philosophy of “Play” and the foundational pillars of leadership. They then engaged in hands-on “Hero Huddles” and “Bully Drills,” practicing real-world strategies to support peers and respond to challenging social situations.

During a Leadership Working Lunch, the school’s Student Leadership Group collaborated with BRAVE trainers to plan how to sustain and expand these efforts throughout the school community.

In the afternoon, student leaders put their learning into action by mentoring fifth-grade students, facilitating sessions that emphasized connection and inclusion. One fifth-grader, Mayleen Lopez Arroyave, said, “I was nervous at first, but once we started talking to the older kids, they were so nice and made me feel less vulnerable.”

Student leaders also reflected on the experience. Eighth-grader Montgomery Allen described it as “a stepping stone to my career of wanting to work with children,” while classmate Namar Singh added, “It was fun to be able to do games and stuff with younger peers.”

Other participating students were seventh-graders Owen Brust, Avery Decker, Denali Owens, Carolina Vera Rivera and Caleb Rusin and eighth-graders Mya Davis, Claire Ferguson, Michael Garzon Valle, Jacob Grossman, Luna Hulse, Thomas Jandik, Antoni Klys, Corrine Lake, Harper Matusak, Pricilla Matute, Zalaina Nash, Luke Poley and Greyson Torres.

Josiah Mckeon, representing the BRAVE program, summarized its mission: “The BRAVE program isn’t just about stopping a bully; it’s about starting a movement of compassion and connection.”

The kickoff marks an important step for Liberty Middle School in fostering student leadership and creating a more supportive, inclusive school environment.  Sweethearts and Heroes will return five more times throughout the year to continue the “movement of compassion and connection.”

“We are incredibly proud of our students for showing the courage to lead and the heart to help,” said MS/HS Behavior Specialist Sheila Wormuth. “Way to go, Liberty Heroes!”

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.