Two Lakewood Ranch High School graduates are stepping behind the teacher's desk at Buffalo Creek Middle School this fall, just four years after they walked the stage as students.

Gilbert and Hartwig, both former FFA members at Lakewood Ranch High, will lead the agriculture program at Buffalo Creek Middle when Manatee County students return Monday, Aug. 10. The School District of Manatee County announced the hires on Friday, July 31, describing the pair's return as a full-circle moment. The district has not released the teachers' first names, and the four-year timeline suggests they finished at Lakewood Ranch High around 2022.

Both were active in FFA during their time at Lakewood Ranch High, where the chapter is one of only three in Manatee County to earn the National Chapter Award, according to a district post. The district said their FFA membership helped develop the leadership skills that prepared them for the classroom.

Already at work before the first bell

According to the district's Instagram post, Gilbert and Hartwig have already been meeting with their FFA club officers and planning activities ahead of the school year. They'll be joining one of the county's strongest middle school programs: Buffalo Creek Middle, which serves about 1,171 students in grades 6-8 in Palmetto, runs one of the most awarded FFA middle school programs in Manatee County, according to the school's website.

A growing pipeline across the district

The pipeline from FFA student to agriculture educator is growing across the district. Manatee County runs FFA programs at multiple middle and high schools, including Braden River Middle, Haile Middle, R. Dan Nolan Middle, Parrish Community High and Palmetto High.

"Manatee County has a big, strong agriculture education community and agriculture in general," Angelica Rivera-Benavides, an agriculture teacher at Dr. Mona Jain Middle School, told the East County Observer in December 2024. "It's tremendous the amount of support I've gotten from our people and from the community."

First day of school

Manatee County's first day of school is Monday, Aug. 10, the earliest date allowed under Florida law, according to the Herald-Tribune. Families interested in Buffalo Creek Middle's agriculture and FFA programs can reach the school at 941-721-2260 or visit the school's FFA page.