Lakeview Middle School to host second annual Fall Festival

Amy Paterson’s goals for the Lakeview Middle School FFA program is more expansive than simply teaching students about agriculture and animals. 

Paterson wants her students to learn and honor the history of Lakeview Middle and the era of the Red Devils, the school’s former mascot. 

“Our goal for this school is to be Winter Garden’s community school,” Paterson said. “It’s important that Lakeview is brought back to its glory. It’s important for our students to know the history of where they came from.”

To help in this effort, the FFA program is honoring the schools’ history by collecting memorabilia from the Red Devil era to borrow and showcase at its Fall Festival Saturday, Oct. 18. 

The Fall Festival is a tradition Paterson brought from her days teaching at Windermere High School. The festival not only will serve as a fundraiser for Lakeview’s FFA program but also as an opportunity to bring the community together and celebrate the school’s legacy. 

Photo by Liz Ramos

Paterson said she’s hoping to have alumni of the school when the mascot was the Red Devil, which changed in 2023 to the Lightning, at the festival to share stories of their time at the school. 

“We’re hoping maybe we could get yearbooks, jerseys or jackets to borrow,” she said. “It would be great if it’s not just students, but parents of students, because there’s the Red Devil alumni but then we have a whole group of parents that came through it as a middle school and didn’t come through it as a high school.”

FFA students will sell Lakeview Red Devil as well as Lakeview alumni and Lakeview Lightning shirts. Half the proceeds will be donated to the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation and the other half will support the FFA program. 

Besides the alumni table, there will be plenty of fall fun for everyone. The festival will feature live music, a petting zoo and animals, games and kids’ activities, arts and crafts, food trucks and local vendors. 

 The festival also will feature a golf cart parade with prizes for first, second and third place and People’s Choice. Golf carts can be decorated in any theme. 

FFA programs from various schools will be in attendance.

The Fall Festival also will be an opportunity for people to learn about various community organizations and businesses that will be at the festival, but most importantly, a chance for people to learn about agriculture. 

Paterson brought FFA back to Lakeview Middle School last year, and the program was an immediate success, securing its spot as the No. 10 program in the country. She said it since has grown by leaps and bounds, with seven full class periods, one of which is an advanced agriculture class for students to receive high-school credit. 

“It’s important to take care of our land and our area,” she said. “That’s why bringing (agriculture) back to downtown Winter Garden is important. Ag is not dead here, even though it seems like it. It is not. I tell my students all the time, if you eat food, you’re connected to agriculture. Now more than ever, it’s important to know where it comes from and how we get it and how we create more.”

In the future, Paterson wants to incorporate gardening, sustainable farming, aquaculture and more.