The Chronicle. The Newsletter of the North Carolina FFA Alumni Association. Mission

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1 1 The Chronicle The Newsletter of the North Carolina FFA Alumni Association Mission The mission of the National 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. Join us for the North Carolina FFA Alumni Development Conference! Who: Any and all NC FFA Alumni members! What: North Carolina FFA Alumni Development Conference Where: Charles D. Owen High School 99 Lake Eden Road, Black Mountain, NC When: February 25, 2012 In this issue... North Carolina Alumni Development Conference Legion of Merit Citation Recipient Membership Process Spotlight Affiliate National Ranking Alumni Chapter in North Carolina We want YOU in attendance! Don t miss out on this opportunity! It is that time of the year again for the NC FFA Alumni Development Conference! If you want to make your affiliate the best that it can be, join us for an exciting conference. By coming to this conference, you will gain insight on national and state initiatives, other alumni affiliate ideas and success stories, fundraising tips, banquet ideas, community projects, resources, meeting management practices, financial tips, and more! The conference is centered on developing the local affiliate. Your support is crucial to the entire association s success. We want to help equip you with the tools to maximize your affiliate s potential. In doing so, we can live out our mission and ensure the success of thousands of FFA members in our state. We look forward to seeing you! Look to the end of the newsletter for the conference sign-up sheet. 1

2 2 Recruitment in Action Every year at the National FFA Alumni Convention, awards are given to individuals who devote countless hours to the success of Alumni affiliates across the nation. This year, one of our own, Mr. Bill Teague was presented with the National Legion of Merit Citation for the 39 th year in a row. This was a tremendous accomplishment for Mr. Teague, who is currently serving as one of the representatives on the North Carolina FFA Alumni Council. To receive the Legion of Merit Citation, you must provide leadership and spend your own time and energy to help build the National FFA Alumni Association. To qualify for the award, you must enroll fifteen new or renewed National FFA Alumni members or five new lifetime members for the current membership year. To share what Mr. Teague is doing to encourage membership each year, we asked him a series of questions. Q: What do you do each year to encourage new members? A: I look at people who have been involved in the program. Many former students have children in the program and do not realize that they can become an alumni member until someone talks to them one on one. I also seek out individuals who are directly involved in agriculture. Q: What do you enjoy most about being a member of the alumni? A: Being as young as I am, I get to see my friends at various alumni events. However, the best part of being an alumni member is seeing young people mature and grow in FFA programs. Q: Why should students join the alumni after graduating from high school? A: FFA members have seen firsthand what an effective alumni affiliate can do for a chapter. In addition, students who are heavily involved in FFA throughout high school can join the alumni to experience an easier transition into college or work. The FFA Alumni gives young people the option to be involved in FFA beyond high school. Q: What advice would you give to a chapter that is having problems with recruitment and retainment? A: There are many things an affiliate can do to encourage membership. Alumni affiliates should create ways for the alumni members to connect with the FFA members, have occasional socials for alumni members to mingle, and encourage their leaders to participate on the state and national levels. Overall, the most important thing is to make sure that all members are involved in at least one project throughout the year. Q: Do you plan to go for the Legion of Merit Citation again? A: I do! I have already encouraged four new members to join this year. Mr. Teague is a great asset to the North Carolina FFA Alumni and we are proud of him for his accomplishments on the national level. We can all learn about effective ways to recruit in our own affiliates from the methods used by Mr. Bill Teague. 2

3 3 Membership Process The National FFA Alumni is in the process of moving all membership data online through the Agricultural Career Network. Online access will not be granted until January 2012, and Excel and paper rosters will no longer be accepted by the State FFA Office. The National FFA Alumni encourages affiliates to identify 2-3 individuals per affiliate who will be granted administrative rights and have access to registering members online. To add administrators, go online to click on membership rosters from the left menu, scroll to the bottom and select register local admins. By using the Agricultural Career Network system, membership will be a quick and easy process for affiliates to enjoy. The network will go live in January, Learning to do Doing to learn Earning to live Living to serve North Buncombe FFA Alumni in the Spotlight! Aliquam scelerisque sagit- The North Buncombe FFA Alumni was reactivated in July At this time, the affiliate has 34 members. The Alumni and the student Chapter have been very busy conducting fundraising events to create scholarships and resources for students. At the North tis Carolina erat. Mountain State Fair, the Alumni co-hosted a steak booth for the North Carolina Cattleman s Integer Association, diam. had Ut a vel milking quam vitae booth, orci and aliquam helped mattis. answer questions that the public may have while visiting Nullam the moo-ternity sem risus, ward. dignissim This non, endeavor tempus took eget, a lot laoreet of hard et, work, commitment and dedication but the proceeds est. far Vestibulum exceeded expectations eget tortor. Sed and ante. got In the suscipit, Alumni metus funds in sed luctus ornare, pede est dictum metus, sit amet posuere a great starting position. The alumni also purchased and raffled a gas grill. This fundraising event brought ante enim a ligula. in over $ Community service has also been an emphasis that the alumni have focused on in conjunction with the FFA chapter. This fall, the alumni Nunc and sodales. FFA members In ut enim. cut, Quisque split, and scelerisque stacked firewood pretium for pede. Integer convallis. Praesent malesuada lacus sit amet a disabled family, set up an educational and informative booth at a local antique tractor and car show, and Nullam suscipit neque in ligula. Duis lectus. Curabitur ornare, and magna served iaculis lunch sodales to placerat, all incoming nisi tellus freshmen cibus and et, their placerat families at, pulvinar during id, freshman massa. Morbi orientation. nec enim To lectus. Aliquam erat volutpat. Nullam lacus urna, fau- prepared sollicitudin sapien, eu cursus pede justo ut nulla. date, Nullam the in Alumni magna adipiscing has awarded ipsum fringilla over $2,000 iaculis. to help et leo North placerat Buncombe suscipit. FFA Aenean members sed massa attend non the est National vestibulum alumni convallis. has Mauris big plans nec for est future sed est fundraising varius faucibus. events and Convention in Indianapolis and other activities. The wants to continue helping North Buncombe students grow to be successful FFA Ambassadors. 3

4 4 West Rowan FFA Alumni Affiliate 3rd Place Outstanding Alumni Affiliate Gold Finalist Since the West Rowan FFA Alumni Affiliate was re-chartered in the spring of 2005, they have served the West Rowan FFA to the best of their ability. At the National FFA Alumni meeting this past October in Indianapolis, Indiana, the West Rowan FFA Alumni was recognized as the 3 rd place Outstanding Alumni Affiliate in the Nation. Over 200 alumni members have come together to make this affiliate stand out in our state and across the nation. The alumni members and officers provide more than just financial support, stated West Rowan Agriculture Teacher, Mr. Jason Chester. Mr. Clark Adams, Ms. Heather Wade and I are able to utilize our alumni members talents and expertise as they allow our students to work with them for students supervised agriculture experience programs. We are also able to take our career development event team members to farms to train them as well as bring in alumni members to help train the teams. The president of the West Rowan FFA Alumni is currently Mrs. Leigh Ann Wetmore. The council meets once a month and the entire alumni affiliate and its members meet every quarter. Everyone is able to communicate through a newsletter that goes out bi-monthly along with s, phone calls and their Facebook page. Mr. Chester stated, Our alumni affiliate helps us operate a complete agricultural education program. It allows us to have a greater impact on our students. Anything that our agriculture program might lack, such as supplies or expertise in a certain area, there are always alumni members who are able to provide our program with the necessary support. It is apparent that the members of the West Rowan FFA Alumni Affiliate have what it takes to be a gold finalist alumni chapter. Mr. Chester states, The applications for the outstanding alumni affiliate are fairly simple to complete and they are similar to the national chapter award. There are areas to complete including financial impact, student impact, community impact and school impact. The application outlines all of the events that are done throughout the year. Their affiliate holds an alumni golf tournament which provides scholarships for senior FFA officers to go to college and for them to become lifetime alumni members. Other activities that they are involved in include an oyster roast, silent auction, providing livestock for the county fairs and for the school s animal science program, and their summer alumni social where they have almost 150 members in attendance. Their yearly agenda is filled with events and projects that make the West Rowan FFA Alumni Affiliate the 3 rd place Outstanding Affiliate in the Nation. Mr. Chester spoke about the alumni with a grateful heart. It has not been more work because the positive impact far outweighs the extra work. You cannot quantify the impact provided by an active alumni affiliate. Our excited alumni council does a great job. We teachers develop our program of activities to give to the alumni members. The teachers remain ex-officio members and make sure things are focused towards chapter goals and our students. The alumni and its members are the actual driving forces who accomplish great things. Mr. Adams, Ms. Wade and I extend a large thank you to all of the members of the West Rowan FFA Alumni. 4

5 5 National FFA Alumni Convention Highlights 2011 National Alumni Awards North Carolina: 100% State FFA Officer Life Membership North Carolina: Outstanding State Website Silver-3rd Place North Carolina: 11% Membership Challenge Tied for 3rd Place West Rowan FFA Alumni: Outstanding Affiliate Gold-3rd Place South Rowan FFA Alumni: Outstanding Affiliate Bronze Connect with Us! Above: State FFA Officer Team Left: Richard Daniel recently represented North Carolina as a candidate for the National FFA Alumni Council. NCFFAAlumniAssoc@gmail.com North Carolina FFA Alumni Association NCFFAAlumni 5

6 6 ALUMNI DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE Response Form We want YOU at the NC FFA Alumni Development Conference! Who: Any and all NC FFA Alumni members! What: North Carolina FFA Alumni Development Conference Where: Owen High School When: February 25, :00 am 3:00 pm Please sign up using the form below and let us know who will be attending from your Alumni Affiliate! Lunch is included! ALUMNI AFFILIATE CHAPTER NAME NAMES OF THOSE ATTENDING: (Please Print or type) Please return this form by Friday, February 17, 2012 to: Megan Blanke NCFFA Association NCSU Campus Box 7654 Raleigh, NC Fax: