Corduroy Connections

Transcription

1 State Convention Newsletter 2015 Minnesota FFA Alumni State Convention Newsletter 2015 A Word From Our President Does FFA really make an impact? April is a great month as we focus on State Convention and spring planting. If you have not attended State Convention I would highly recommend participating. Seeing over 3,500 students dressed up in official dress with their blue jackets is an impressive sight. I have been blessed working in agriculture my entire life. I am a Technical Agronomist for DEKALB and Asgrow seed Company. My hobbies include farming with my family, camping and spending time at the family lake cabin as well as traveling. I am also on the KMS School Board and President of the local KMS FFA Alumni. My wife Gina and I have three daughters, Hannah, Katherine and Elizabeth. When my oldest daughter, Hannah was in the 6 th grade, she came home and asked if she could join FFA. It was really breath taking because as involved in Ag as I am, I really didn t realize that my daughters would want to be as well. Now, all three of our daughters have participated in FFA at many levels, including CDE s, proficiencies, chapter officers and State and National FFA Conventions. Through this journey, I realized that the experiences that are gained through involvement in the FFA Organization grow into life-lasting skills and knowledge that will last forever. President Harmon Wilts My oldest daughter, Hannah, is now currently preparing for college graduation by student teaching this semester at Upsala in the Ag classroom. She has also secured an agriculture teaching position for this fall. My middle daughter, Katherine is a freshman at the University of Minnesota studying Ag Business, and my youngest daughter, Elizabeth will be attending the U of M in the fall to study Plant Science. There are two main areas of focus for our alumni association in the next year. The first is to develop local FFA alumni affiliate leadership to better support teachers, increase opportunities to individual FFA members, and to conduct activities to improve sustainability of local FFA alumni affiliate leadership. The second area of focus is growing new FFA Alumni Affiliates. Our goal is to have an FFA Alumni Affiliate at every FFA chapter in the State of Minnesota. Thank you to all the dedicated Ag Teachers, you have a great deal of influence on your students and for the great work that you do every day. Thanks to Judy Barka and all the past presidents of the MN FFA Alumni for making agricultural education and FFA a priority. Also a big thank you to all the local FFA Alumni members that are helping secure the promise of FFA and Agriculture Education. I urge Alumni Members to get involved. You can make a big difference. I realized that the experiences that are gained through involvement in the FFA Organization grow into life-lasting skills and knowledge that will last forever.

2 Get Connected with the MN State FFA Convention The 86th Minnesota FFA Convention will be held April at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. This annual meeting draws over 3,000 FFA members, advisors and guests from across the state. This year s convention is themed Reach. Sessions this year will focus on how members can reach within themselves, how they can reach out to others, reach beyond their potential, and how they should reach deep into their dreams. Live Stream the Convention For those who cannot attend the convention, the following sessions will be streamed live online at Talent Show & Reflections Program: April 26, 5:30 p.m. First General Session Reach Within April 27, 8:30 a.m. Second General Session Reach Out April 27, 1:30 p.m. Annual Award Program Reach Beyond April 27 6:30 p.m. Third General Session Reach Deep April 28, 8:45 a.m. Fourth General Session Reach : April 28, 12:00 p.m. This annual meeting draws over 3,000 FFA members, advisors, and guests from across the state. 2

3 Meet Our Outstanding Alumni Affiliate - Paynesville Alumni! By: Katie Wilts, FFA Minnesota FFA Alumni Intern The 2015 Minnesota FFA Alumni awards were presented Camp Courage in Maple Lake, MN on March 8th. Awards that were presented include the Outstanding Alumni Affiliate of the year which went to the Paynesville affiliate, the Outstanding Young FFA Alumni Member is Flinton Stehr, and the Outstanding FFA Alumni Member was Jim Ertl. Paynesville FFA Alumni Recipients at Annual Conference 2015 equipment and farm animals to the Kindergarten classes. They have donated books from the Minnesota Ag in the Classroom Ag literacy book bundle to the Paynesville Elementary School Media Center, and are currently working on donating to the Cold Spring Elementary School as well. What projects and events has your affiliate taken part in? The Paynesville Area FFA Alumni is a very developed and involved organization. The chapter consists of about 30 members from the Paynesville and ROCORI schools. They participate in many activities to promote agriculture and FFA in the Paynesville, Cold Spring, and surrounding communities. The biggest activity that the alumni participates in is developing and maintaining an FFA Educational Plot. Alumni members work with the high school FFA members to design the layout of the plot, planting, maintenance, irrigation, and harvest. Paynesville FFA celebrates Ag Day in April, where they put on a petting zoo, farm safety demonstration, and dairy industry awareness to the elementary schools. The alumni chapter assists with getting equipment needed for the safety and donates string cheese and coloring books for the students. The Paynesville Alumni chapter also creates an FFA float, sponsors scholarships and FFA jackets, donates a gate trailer and constructed gates for our many petting zoos the chapter participates in, walks in parades, and appears at community business shows booths. The alumni members help at multiple events such as fruit sales, parades, state convention, and national convention. They also serve as coaches for various teams, write grants for projects, and serve on the officer and scholarship interview panel. The Crop plot project involves the student members working with seed representatives to run trials on their plot. The approximately 80 FFA members benefit from the results of working with the alumni to till, plant, treat, monitor, harvest, and market the products. There are signs on the plot on two major highway corridors, spreading information to the commuters that pass by. The students have courses in agronomy, soils, and resource management which now extend into the field, literally, and involve a summer program. Involved community members and businesses, the City of Watertown, and the school district have become a support network for the FFA members and their project. Congratulations to the Paynesville FFA Alumni affiliate chapter! We send our best wishes to them as they continue their journey of agricultural support with us. The alumni has also sponsored educational opportunities for elementary school students. They have built, purchased, and donated toy farm 3

4 2015 Minnesota FFA Alumni Annual Conference a Success A small but passionate group met on March 8th, 2015 for the Annual FFA Alumni Conference. The program was held on the beautiful grounds of Camp Courage in Maple Lake, MN. Members of the executive board met on Friday night for a very productive evening of goal setting. They worked to create a strategic plan that aims toward building up affiliates across the state, along with increasing the availability of resources for these affiliates. You can access the strategic plan on the MN FFA Alumni website. The conference began at 9:00 am on Saturday morning. Sarah Dornick, the Executive Director of the Minnesota Agricultural Education Leadership Council (MAELC), gathered a panel of experts, including Paula Palmer, Dr. Amy Smith, and Andrew Steiner, that shared valuable information during The Ag Teacher Shortage presentation. The affiliates of Dassel-Cokato and Paynesville were highlighted during the Idea Exchange Workshop. Those two affiliates have both been named Outstanding Affiliates. The highlight of the business meeting was an impromptu auction lead by state FFA Sentinel, Dalton Kampsen. A beautiful print by Bonnie Mohr was auctioned off for $ and benefited the newly founded "Jim Ertl Ag Ed Endowment". Steve Olson wrapped up the day with a great message about Quality Ag Ed Programs. He highlighted goals, the role of alumni, classroom content, SAE's and FFA. The day concluded with an optional tour of the Camp Courage facilities. Regional FFA Alumni Conference 2015 Coming up this summer, Minnesota will have the opportunity to host a Regional FFA Alumni conference. Alumni members from Minnesota and the rest of the upper Midwest will be invited to a training put on by the National FFA Alumni staff. Keep your calendars open for July 25th, This conference will be a great opportunity for the alumni affiliates of Minnesota to grow their leadership, to learn new ideas, and to network with other affiliates across the Midwest region of the United States. Be watching for more details. By: Chicky Otte, Minnesota FFA Alumni Secretary 4

5 Congratulations 2015 Minnesota FFA Hall of Fame Inductees Senator Gary Dahms was responsible for a fundraising campaign to re-establish the agricultural education program in the Redwood Area Schools in 2007, he served as a Co-Chair for Minnesota Agricultural Education Leadership Council (MAELC) from , and is currently serving as the Senate Agriculture CommitteeMinority Lead appointment. He also has been a catalyst to help establish an agricultural education major at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minnesota. Charles Erickson has actively been involved with agricultural education and the FFA for 42 years. He has served as an Minnesota Association o fagricultural Educators (MAAE) Officer, has been a delegate to National Association of Agricultural Education (NAAE) Conferences, he s been named an Outstanding Ag Educator, Regional Advisor, and is an Honorary Chapter and State Degree Recipient. Erickson also has had eight former students complete an agricultural education degree, and two former students currently teaching in agriculture. Dr. James Gibson was an active agricultural educator for many years, first at the high school level in Pewamo, Michigan, then at Michigan State University, and finally at the University of Minnesota, Waseca (UMW). He was also an active member of MAAE. While on faculty at UMW, Gibson served as coordinator of the Region 7 and Region 8 FFA Contests. He also served as a member of the Feasibility and Steering Committee that lead to the development of the National Post-Secondary Agricultural Students organization (PAS) DelRay Lecy has been involved in Agricultural Education for over 35 years. During that period, Lecy taught postsecondary agriculture students and served as a regional dean of Management Education. He is a member of the MAAE and the NAAE. Lecy is also a former member of the Minnesota FFA Foundation Board. Lecy has written the regional Farm Business Management problem for 20 years and Minnesota FBM problem for 15 years, and has served as the teacher chair for the state Creed CDE for 30 years. He is also serving on the National FFA Farm Business Management CDE committee. Timothy McNamara served on the MN FFA Foundation Board of Trustees for six years, including a year as chair, and he has been a Minnesota FFA Foundation donor for many years and became a Legacy Club donor in McNamara has been a strong advocate for agriculture and FFA throughout his 33 years career in agricultural lending, with Purina Mills and the Farm Credit system where he was recognized as a dairy industry specialist, speaking at numerous dairy-related meetings and conventions. Lowell Ross taught high school agriculture for 34 years in Albert Lea, Minnesota from In 1971 Ross was named the National FFA Advisor of the Year. After retirement from teaching he served as an insurance adjuster, seed certifier, county water quality advisor, agricultural consultant to the city of Albert Lea, and worked as a drainage specialist. Ross was a member of the County Fair board, MN State Fair Miracle of Birth Center and the FFA Leadership Center, member of Zoning Appeals Board agricultural committee, and a member of Albert Lea Lake Improvement committee. Lowell instilled an appreciation of the value of the land and water, as a resource and a responsibility, for all those with whom he worked. Lee Thompson has provided a quality agricultural education program for the Goodhue, Minnesota community for more than 30 years. In 2012, he was named MAAE s Outstanding Agricultural Educator, and he received his Honorary American Degree in Thompson has advised five Minnesota State FFA Officers, numerous regional officers and 30 plus years of chapter officer teams. He has instructed seven young people who have gone on to teach agricultural education as well. 5

6 State Convention Newsletter 2015 Upcoming Events April State FFA Convention July 23 FFA Golf Tournament July 25 Regional Directors Conference July 25 FFA Day at the Saints Game September 5 FFA Day at the State Fair Minnesota FFA Alumni Mission: The mission of the Minnesota FFA Alumni Association is to secure the promise of FFA and agricultural education by creating an environment where people and communities can develop their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success. Minnesota FFA Alumni Vision: The vision of the Minnesota FFA Alumni Association is a world where people and communities can grow and develop to their fullest potential. Don t forget to follow the Minnesota FFA State Convention on Facebook and Twitter. Also, be sure to check out Convention updates and watch live streaming of Convention sessions! MN FFA Alumni Officers President: Harmon Wilts Region 1: OPEN (Steve Olson is contact person) President Elect: Jim Burns Region 2: Aimee Brichacek Secretary: Chicky Otte Region 3: Charles Erickson Treasurer: Fred Troendle Region 4: Cara Soper Membership Coordinator: Mary Buschette Region 5: Lynn Suter Past President: Judy Barka Region 6: OPEN Region 7: Jill Grams Region 8: Stacy Fritz Contact Us Minnesota FFA Alumni Association PO Box Roseville, MN mnffaalumni@gmail.com Newsletter by Katie Wilts Minnesota FFA Alumni Intern