Article written by: Skyler Allen, 25-26 Racine Southern FFA Historian
A group of Racine Southern FFA Officers visited Southern’s first-grade students on December 3, 2025, to provide an interactive demonstration on proper handwashing. The initiative was designed to promote healthy lifestyles within the school community, directly supporting one of the core National FFA Chapter Quality Standards.
Meeting FFA National Quality Standards
The National FFA Organization's Program of Activities (POA) is built around three divisions: Growing Leaders, Building Communities, and Strengthening Agriculture. The activity conducted by the Racine Southern chapter falls under the Growing Leaders division, specifically addressing the Healthy Lifestyle quality standard.
The Healthy Lifestyle standard requires chapters to conduct activities that "promote the well-being of students mentally or physically, in achieving the positive evolution of the whole person". The Racine Southern FFA chapter met this standard by:
Educating for physical wellness: The activity focused on a fundamental aspect of physical health—hygiene and germ prevention.
Providing relevant, educational experiences: The officers used an engaging, hands-on experiment to make the lesson memorable and impactful for young students.
Promoting positive habits: By teaching the correct handwashing steps and timing (singing ABCs), the activity helps establish lifelong healthy habits.
Developing leadership skills: The FFA officers developed their own leadership and communication skills by planning and delivering an educational presentation to a younger audience.
The Germ Experiment
The officers used a simple, visual experiment to illustrate the importance of soap. A bowl of water was sprinkled with pepper, which represented germs.
A child first dipped their finger in the plain water, and the "germs" (pepper) clung to their finger.
Then, they coated their finger with soap and dipped it in the bowl again, causing the pepper to quickly swim away from the soapy finger.
This visual demonstration effectively showed what soap does to germs, making the abstract concept of hygiene concrete for the young students.
Following the experiment, all the first graders practiced the proper handwashing technique, using soap and water for the recommended duration while singing their ABCs. The activity was a great success in teaching the younger students valuable lessons about health and hygiene.
