Winter Board Meeting/Region II Service Day

The Sauk Center FFA members and Ms. Thompson once again showed wonderful hospitality as I traveled there for the second time in the last month. The full minutes of the winter board meeting are available on the state website but there are a few key important issues to note:



1. The nominating committee process for state convention has changed. Any current member (any age) may submit an application to serve on state nom com. Applications are available from your chapter and region advisors or off the state webpage. They are due very soon!!



2. We need your ideas for delegate issues for state convention. These can be things that either affect our organization on the state or national level. These will be due January 15 so please think about what you would like to see changed!



Following the board meeting, most of kept traveling north to Staples and Motley for the Region II service day. We made ornaments and bird feeders at two assisted living homes with members from Region II and the regional officers did a great job planning the day!

University of Minnesota December Invitational

Last Thursday was the U of M invitational event which included all the leadership and speaking contests as well as small animals. I was assigned to the prepared public speaking room where I sure a lot about some very diverse things. From dairy products to agricultural education, it was definitely interesting. Watching each participant give his/her speech was also just plain awesome because the amount of work that went into each speech was obvious. Way to go everyone!

Chapter Visits - Holdingford and Sauk Rapids/Rice

Time for another round of chapter visits!. Derek and I had a different type of chapter visit at Sauk Rapids/Rice with Mr. Nelson and senior officers Sarah and Samantha. We really enjoyed getting to know the girls and Mr. Nelson and discussing what was going on in this building and growing chapter. They have an awesome PAL program in place and are working on some really cool things for the upcoming year!

At Holdingford, we were welcomed by a friendly face in Region III President and Holdingford senior Shari Yurczyk. Soon we had met the rest of the chapter officer team and they certainly know how to make our day by giving us cookies and juice! After a tour of the school, we met with the freshmen agriculture class and discussed what might be coming up in FFA this year. I must say Holdingford had one of the most unique ag rooms I've seen all year since they have an aquaculture tank and not one but TWO taxidermied conjoined twin calf pairs.

CHS New Leaders' Institute

CHS invited us to help out with their New Leaders' Institute at the beginning of December. This conference is to develop leadership in young cooperative members. The attendees were from all over the country and no one was older than mid-thirties. Derek and I helped on the first full day of the conference by running errands and helping to pass the mike. In the mean time, we overheard some amazing speakers like Mark Mayfield, a past national FFA president.

Chapter Visits - Sauk Center, Fergus Falls, and Battle Lake

Justin and I hit off our first few chapter visits with stops in Sauk Center, Fergus Falls, and Battle Lake.

At Sauk Center, home of the gold placing national dairy evaluation team, we met up with Ms. Thompson and the introductory agriculture leadership class. The entire class's excitement was infectious. All of the students had great questions and even introduced themselves and shook hands with us.

From there we headed to a vocational careers class for freshmen at Fergus Falls were we had a lot of fun with a whole class who had hardly heard of FFA. They were just starting the class so we got to spend some time with the basics of FFA.

We ended our day at the Battle Lake chapter meeting. Before any business was discussed, we played wiffle ball in the gym (I'm pretty sure the team I was on won)! Then we stayed to listen to the meeting and talked a little about communication through making some blindfolded peanut butter sandwiches and Mr. Larson even got a few pictures of the process. Justin and I took off from Battle Lake for some extra long drives home but it certainly was a worthwhile day!

Minnesota Farm Bureau Annual Meeting

Back in mid-November, I had the chance to visit a little of MN Farm Bureau's Annual Meeting. Pete and I were time keepers for the Young Farmer and Rancher Discussion Meet. The meet is run very similarly to both the collegiate and FFA discussion meets. The contestants have a list of topics before the contest and then have some preparation time at the event to respond to a particular situation. The round I helped with included infrastructure and transportation debates. The whole event is supposed to be an exercise in problem solving and certainly gave rise to a lot of very interesting ideas. Winners of the FFA discussion meet at convention receive a scholarship to Washington Leadership Conference courtesy of Farm Bureau. Think about participating!

And now, for something completely different...

On an un-FFA related but still relevant tangent, I had the opportunity to attend the Agriculture Future of America Leaders' Conference in Kansas City, MO last weekend. I would strongly recommend this experience to any current (or soon to be) college students interested in agriculture. There are many scholarships available, both at community and corporate levels. The University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, University of Wisconsin - River Falls, South Dakota State University, North Dakota State University, and Southwest Minnesota State University were all amoung the institutions sending delegates this year. The conference is a four day professional experience with the purpose of teaching students the skills needed to get internships while in college and find their dream careers after graduation. There are three tracks that build on each other. As a freshman, I was a track one delegate. Our resumes were critiqued by industry representatives, we prepared and attended a career fair hosted by top industry companies, we spent time developing personal leadership and integrity, and had the chance to meet different people from ag schools from across the country. All of this while staying in a very nice hotel and eating a lot of delicious food! Several very outstanding speakers also took the stage. There was even a live concert on Saturday night. With a scholarship, the experience may cost less than $10. Keep your eyes open for more information on next year's conference this spring and next fall!

Minnesota Agri-Growth Council Annual Meeting

Derek, Justin, and I had the chance to spend a day with many of Minnesota and the nation's top leaders in agriculture at the Agri-Growth Council annual meeting in St. Paul. The highlights of the day were hearing from Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee Colin Peterson, Governor Tim Pawlenty, and United States Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schaefer. All three shared comments on their excitement about the future of the ag industry as well as ideas of how to deal with the challenges to come. What I took most from the day was the key issue of a world economy. A panel discussion talked about feeding the growing world and America's role as a global leader in that field. Agriculture is much bigger than our own backyard these days!

The 81st National FFA Convention!!

Step Up and Stand Out was the theme for the largest youth leadership gathering in the country. Having only gone to one National Convention before this year, I was incredibly excited to journey to Indianapolis to represent Minnesota, catch up with a lot of old friends, and complete one of my long time goals by competing in my first, last, and only national CDE. Here is a little rundown of the week:

Monday - We left the U of M campus bright and early at 5AM to fly first to St. Louis and then to Indy. We arrived safely and spent the rest of the day exploring downtown and took in a movie called "Forever Strong" as part of the Heartland Film Festival. It is a great story about leadership and teamwork and we very strongly recommend it!

Tuesday - We began the delegate process bright and early and had the chance to pass on your views and opinions to the other national delegates. Each committee heard testimonies and then wrote recommendations to be passed later on in the week.

Wednesday - After the public hearings, the committee work part of the delegate process was over. Finally, we got to see some MN members! AFSA was the first chapter I found :) While my team mates headed to the general delegate meetings to start priliminary discussions, I participated in the first rounds of the job interview contest. Wednesday was also the official start of convention in Conseco Fieldhouse complete with a laser show and some pretty cool National Officers. Many members, including the delegation from my home chapter of BOLD (shout out to Brad, Carla, Christine, and Brendon!), took in the Taylor Swift concert at the brand new Lucas Oil Stadium.

Thursday - Most members headed off to sessions and tours around Indy while I, along with quite a few other Minnesotans, competed in CDE events all day long.

Friday - I got up very early in the rain to attend my CDE awards breakfast for Job Interview and then got to attend the Dairy CDE lunch where Minnesota was very well represented! Congrats to the Gold Emblem Evaluation team from Sauk Center and to Elizabeth Olson, second place dairy handler! Friday also marked the first session I had the chance to attend where five outstanding members from our state were recognized as National Proficiency Finalists and two were named winners. Congratulations to Paige and Matt as well as all the finalists!

Saturday - It was another early morning to make the trek to Lucas Oil Stadium to watch the American Degree bestowed on seventy-five members from Minnesota. We also saw two Stars Over America finalists from our very own state recognized in front of the huge crowd. Finally, convention came to a close with the final session back at Conseco Fieldhouse. All of the CDE winners were recognized including the first place food science team from Dassel-Cokato! The new National Officers were announced and the old ones took off their jackets for a final time. After session we headed to supper and ice skating for our last night in Indy before heading home Sunday morning. Thanks for a great National Convention!

Region I Fall Leadership Day

Jake, Ethan, Rochelle, Hoang, Nicole, Austin, Mercedes, Marie, and Steph, did an outstanding job of organizing the fall leadership day held at Maplelag, just north of Detroit Lakes. The beautiful facility was the perfect backdrop for the officer team demonstrations (congrats to Ada-Borup!) and over 350 greenhands together for a wide variety of sessions! My workshop watched a little of the office to learn what not to do when it comes to professionalism. I really enjoyed making the trek north with Mrs. Addington to this very fun day! Keep those Legos :)

Minnesota Farm Bureau

On Friday, we had the chance to spend the day at Minnesota Farm Bureau in Eagan, MN. Our morning started out with some introductions and an explanation of Farm Bureau by MN Farm Bureau President Kevin Paap. Next we heard from Chief Administrator Bob Shepard and heard from Kristin Harner, the public relations spealist. Karin Schaefer filled us in on the Young Farmers & Rancers program. Jeremy Geske and Staci Bohlen gave a very interesting look at local, state, and national policy that will be affecting the interests of the agricultural industry. Warren Formo of MN Ag Water Resources Coalition also gave us an update on how that group is expanding. Everything really gotus all thinking how we can be better advocates for agriculture.

After lunch, we met as a team to discuss our position on the national issues coming up at convention in the end of October. Just a reminder, we want to hear your opinions!! A full list of the issues are on both the national and state FFA websites as well as in the newest newsletter.

Thanks Farm Bureau for such a welcoming and informative day!

Minnesota Agri-Growth AgNite

It's always been a dream of mine to go to a red carpet event. Who knew I would get the chance to go to one in my blue jacket? Minnesota Agri-Growth coordinated a massive celebration of the agricultural industry, affectionately dubbed AgNite. The event was held in conjunction with the Republican National Convention and had a total attendance of around five thousand people. In addition to a red carpet, there were representatives from not only Minnesota, but from across the country present to toast where our industry is going. The night was nearly awe-inspiring as beautiful decoration, complimented by potted corn stalks, giant blocks of cheese, and a John Deere tractor, set up a great atmosphere for conversation about agriculture. It was great to catch up with many familiar faces and to make scores of new contacts. The night wrapped up with a Styx concert on the main stage. The overall message of the event was loud and clear, agriculture is just that exciting right now!

The GREAT Minnesota Get-together

12 days of wonderful food (that's horrible for you), livestock shows everyday, one hundred and eighty-four new births and a building full of barnies taking care of them, and of course 100,000 of our closest friends visiting every day, it can only mean State Fair time! I spent most of my time at the fair (ten days for me this year!) between the livestock barns and the CHS Miracle of Birth Center and FFA Leadership Center and Chapter House. Out in the barnyard, we combined the strength, might, and work ethic (and wow do those barnies have work ethic!) of the Minnesota FFA Association with the knowledge and expertise of the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine and the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association to partner in a way to make the CHS Miracle of Birth Center the biggest attraction at the fair. In our third year in the new CHS MOBC, we shook things up in the Leadership Center by allowing the public to "Experience the Legacy" of MN FFA but getting a glimpse of what it's like to be a member. Mrs. Addington and Mrs. Aarsvold did an outstanding job coordinating many different stations of activities that ranged from classroom instruction and supervised agricultural experiences to career development events and community service. One of the favorite parts of the building was the life-size cow as part of the county and state fairs section (see photo below), members and public alike were welcomed to have pictures taken around the center and have them printed while they filled out forms for a chance to win a Cenex gas card or FFA merchandise. I really enjoyed hearing stories from many past wearers of the blue jacket and getting to explain what the jacket meant to many people who hadn't seen it before.

The other way I spent my time was helping out at shows during FFA livestock weekend. I got to work at the VERY FIRST market goat show which will surely be a cool moment in the history of MN FFA. I also spent a day at the breeding sheep show, and let me tell you, I learned a lot about sheep! The weekend concluded with a livestock encampment dance in the show arena on Sunday night and an award ceremony on the stage Monday morning. Before long, it was time to pack up and wave goodbye to a lot of friends and the last hours of summer as we all went our separate ways to start school the next week. It was a short commute for me as I am living in Bailey Hall at the U of M in St. Paul and I now get to drive by the fairgrounds several times a day on my way to class, unfortunately it isn't quite as cool as being there during the fair!

FarmFest

After many trips to the Twin Cities, Up North, and even out of state, finally an event in my own backyard! FarmFest is held near Redwood Falls, MN which is only about 30 miles away from my house. Derek, Caitlin, Justin, Pete, and I, along with Ms. Val Aarsvold took the day to learn about the heart and soul of the agricultural industry from many groups like the Soybean Growers, Corn Growers, and Farm Bureau. We also had a chance to share our message about Agricultural Education and the FFA through numerous conversations. I always enjoy these sort of visits to really get in touch with the industry that we, as FFA members, represent. Though it was a little warm in Official Dress, it was a lot of fun to have people come up to us and tell stories of their days in the Blue Jacket. We even had some time to spend at the University of MN booth, playing an ag knowledge game. We got to ask a lot of people to come spin the wheel and win a prize or take a picture with Goldie! The day ended with an auctioneer contest where Justin came away with first prize out of a pretty talented group! For those of you who saw his skills at SGLC and SLCCL, you're not surprised!

State Presidents' Conference

State Presidents' Conference was unlike any FFA event I have ever been a part of. Derek and I had the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. along with two representatives from every other association. The conference theme was "Empower" and the week focused mainly on two topics: advocating for agricultural education through Capitol Hill visits and meeting with the President and beginning the delegate process for national convention.

Derek and I had a chance to meet with staff from the offices of Colin Peterson and Amy Klobuchar. Later we had an audience with the Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of Education and the highlight of the week was meeting with President George W. Bush himself. We also had a chance to work with our own legislative process by narrowing the state submitted issues for national convention and breaking out into delegate committees. Summaries of the committees will be published soon and any member can give input on them so be sure to check them out! I will serve as a sentinel on the Officer Parts committee, working to access the possibility of adding official opening ceremony parts. Derek will be a small group leader on the Greenhand award committee. Others include going green, American Degree clarifications, and a new goat proficiency.

When we weren't in sessions, we had the opportunity to tour D.C. and meet members from across the country. My favorite part was the night tour of the monuments. There was something indescribably moving about standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, looking out at the mall. We also had a chance to take in an Orioles game at Camden Yards in Baltimore, where they played the visiting Angels. Having no preference on the outcome of the game, I cheered for Torii Hunter in center field. Being a huge government and history buff, my first trip to our nation's capital was a very empowering experience. After almost a week, it was time to return to the Twin Cities, just in time for board meeting and Miracle of Birth Center training. DC was certainly a lot of fun, but the days in St. Paul and trip back to my house reminded me there is no place quite like home.

HLWW Lake Party

Everyone at Howard Lake - Waverly - Winsted sure knows how to have a good time! After getting lost along the way Derek and I joined Cindy and Rachael to make the trip over to Justin Crowley's cabin for a fun night that included a meal, meeting, and a lot of lake fun. It was new member recruitment night so there were many new faces to meet as well as many familiar ones from both camps. After getting everyone to promise not to dunk me all the way in, I joined the group on the shore and then, was of course, dunked in, all while Mr. Winninger took pictures. Derek met a similar fate. Justin was nice enough to give me my first jet ski ride. After a few hours and waiting to see Doreen and Crystal after they came back from play practice, we headed back to the cities to sleep a few hours before heading off to SPC.

State Leadership Conference for Chapter Leaders

It has been a few weeks since I have had anything news worthy to report. In that time, I spent a very early morning loading chickens (cheers for SAEs), had my wisdom teeth removed (now much less wise), and spent a week preparing for camp. Now for the excitement, we spent the last week at Deep Portage once again for SLCCL!

It seems like just yesterday I was an SLCCL participant (picture above is me at SLCCL 06 with my room) coming home with a new passion for the organization and a lot of new friends from across the state. I must say, two years later, I'm coming home with the same things. The conference was called "Mission Possible" and had a spy theme. Almost 150 participants made the week one of my favorites of all time. We were lucky to have visits from both CHS and Alliance Pipeline, who sponsor camp. I really enjoyed hearing why they chose to support FFA as well as what their respective companies do.

The girls in my room, Live and Let Die, (rooms were Bond movies) were always a blast and got incredibly creative with the bribes (poetry, starburst pictures, AND cell phone music) we left for the rec directors. Liz, Maureen, Salena, Calli, Brittany, Jen, and Tiana, I miss sharing a room (but not a mirror) with all of you lovely ladies! Thanks for all of your writing help too!!

Another highlight of the week was my small group/volleyball team. Officially we were the tape measure group (we were identified with tools) but we renamed ourselves Team Carlos pretty quickly. There isn't much meaning behind the name except the fact learning a large number of names really quickly can have some very funny results. Our group was always joking around and even had a nickname for everyone, but we had some really great discussions and even made a pretty amazing drawing of Mr. Carlos, the ideal advisor. The group was pretty insanely talented in the volleyball department as well (except me, but they let me play anyway). We lost 17-19 in a heartbreaking tournament final to Sydney's group, the Purplerz. To Krista, Matt, Brittany, Ethan, Nic, (Matt) Schuette, Jillian, Addie, Colton, and Carl, can you say convention reunion?

In other exciting events, we held a service learning day with the help of Deep Portage staff. The entire camp split into groups to do a wide variety of tasks at the reserve. My group completed "campus projects" which is basically code word for "odds and ends" which basically ends up being FUN! Several people remade the volleyball courts, a few more spread hay to insulate the water system, and the rest of us worked hard at cleaning up the invasive species around the main building. Not only did we learn which plants were good and which were bad, we also saw about a thousand spiders hatching. Below is the most creative way to pull weeds I have ever seen. Below that, Nic proves that chivalry isn't dead. What a great way to spend a morning!

As the week drew to an end, there were a lot of sad goodbyes. Despite the tears, there were also a lot of members incredibly excited to take back what the learned to their chapters. It was incredibly cool to see all of you grow over our time together. Thanks to all who made the week so special and for reminding me what being an FFA member truly means! I can't wait to see all of you again throughout the year!

Remember your mission!

Bye for now!

also, just a general note: my zip code is incorrect of my business cards. It should read 56230. Thanks for catching that Salena!!

Day at the Dome

Yesterday was the perfect summer day to celebrate the Foundation's annual Day at the Dome . Val Aarsvold, Lisa Morehouse, and the whole crew from the Foundation made sure supporters and members alike from three states got together to spend a day in good conversation, great food, and an exciting Twin's game. I really enjoyed catching up with many members, sponsors, and past officers that I hadn't seen since April or before. Getting to see Nikki who had been at camp last year; Pam, Dan, and Amber, past officers; foundation members like Sheryl Meshke, William Nelson, and Paul Hansen; the South Dakota State Officer Team, and all those smiling faces fresh from SGLC like the girls from Watertown and everyone from HLWW; was enough to make my week.

Somehow luck was on my side that day as each state (SD, ND, MN) had one representative to throw out a first pitch for the game. MN's was Brianne from Plainview - Elgin- Millville, who won the Foundation essay contest. ND had State President Darin, and SD was supposed to have State Reporter Josh. Unfortunately the South Dakota officers got caught in a parade in Minneapolis and couldn't make it in time and I happened to be standing in the right place at the right time as a very eager volunteer and Twin's fan (also lucky that Derek isn't much of a Twin's fan). Ask Brianne or Darin , I was bouncing - off - the-walls excited to have the chance to throw out a pitch. When SD finally did arrive, Josh eased my conscience by telling me he wasn't much of a baseball fan anyway and he really didn't mind missing it. The Twins broke my heart when they traded Torii Hunter but I might forgive them after this.

The icing on the cake for the entire day was a 5-0 Twins victory in inter-league play with the Brewers, meaning eleven wins in the last twelve games. Go Twins!!

State Greenhand Leadership Conference

The end of June can only mean one thing for Minnesota FFA, STATE GREENHAND LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE! Over the last week, 140 freshmen (almost sophomores really) joined us up north near Hackensack, MN for SGLC. The theme this year was "Go for the Gold" in honor of the upcoming Olympics. We spent some time learning new tools in sessions, getting our outdoor exercise (and mosquito bites) during rec time, and meeting many exciting members from around the state! There were the standby moments of camp like singing embarrassing songs to get mail, playing volleyball in the tournament (we were knocked out by Jake's team in the second round), and spending some quiet time during reflections. We also had some moments that made this camp truly a stand out like the amazing fiddle playing by Mr. Ryan Bart, and an exciting musical tribute to the Backstreet Boys, as well as learning MN FFA's new favorite dance song - Love, Liberty, and Disco.

Since the theme was Olympics, all of our cabins were named after countries and all of our small groups were named for events. I must say spending time with my rooms (we were England!) and my small group (Archery) were my highlights of the week!
Here is a quick video of all the girls from England sharing their favorite camp moments. Unfortunately it is sideways and I can't change it.




Thank you to everyone for a great week and I can't wait to see all of you during the rest of the year! SLCCL has a few more openings, see you in a few weeks!

Brainerd Alumni Picnic

Derek and I had a chance to accompany Cindy to the Brainerd Alumni Picnic on the way to Deep Portage. The event was astounding!! In only it's third year, the delicious dinner of grilled chicken, sweet corn, and ice cream drew hundreds of people all in support of the FFA. There was something for everyone from live music, to auctions, and even a special little farm hands style exhibit for kids. We even got to sit down and talk with Mr. Greg Gosen, MN FFA Alumni President to hear all of their exciting news. Everyone involved should be very proud of such a great day!

Sharpen the Saw

Since NLCSO and SGLC fall on back to back weeks, we thought it would be a good idea to take a little while off from FFA stuff (don't worry, it was only a few hours). Derek, Syd, Pete, Kaylee, and I spent the day making workbooks for camp and then got dressed up and headed to a musical tonight. It was great to see everyone looking so nice and it was a very fun way to kick back for a little while before heading to Hackensack in the morning!

NLCSO.. That's a Wrap

Well MN FFA, it's late on a Friday night. What exciting way am I spending my time? Doing laundry of course! We just returned from Aurora, NE and National Leadership Conference for State Officers. The thirteen of us (minus Trevor who was at WLC) headed down south (relatively speaking) for a very moving few days in the corn husker state.

The week in Nebraska positively flew by. We arrived Monday night after 9 hour trip which included a rousing game of My Cows and a supper stop in Norfolk, NE, birthplace of Johnny Carson. By Tuesday, we were ready to start the conference. It was presented by two national officers, Brady Revels and Kari Boettcher. Both were incredibly energetic, caring, and passionate and made the week very useful. I think I picked up a trace of Brady's southern accent and finally found my match in water volleyball skills (or lack there of) in Kari.

The theme this year was "Discover the Rhythm" and boy-oh-boy did that ever fit our team well. We are a bunch of music lovers so the catchy tunes and drumsticks made the conference a lot of fun. Over the next few days, we grew as a team through a variety of sessions focusing on things from overcoming conflict to current agricultural issues. Learning along side us were the state officer teams from Kansas, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Meeting these incredibly talented individuals was inspiring as well as a lot of fun!

Now we are moving forward to the meat and potatoes of our summer and our first real chance to put all of this great info from BLAST Off and NLCSO to use. Tomorrow (I guess it's technically today) we will meet up in St. Paul to finish our final camp preparations. Sunday we will head up to Deep Portage to set up and Monday is the start of State Greenhand Leadership Camp.

Much more will be coming from camp!! See you there!

Living to Serve

Yesterday, Derek, Sydney, and I had the opportunity to deliver the fleece blankets made by FFA members at state convention to a veteran's home.

The three of us had just finished college orientation at the U. We all piled into Derek's car with many many fleece blankets. I was the lucky person to sit in the backseat. We wedged a spot for me between the mountain of boxes and then Derek and Syd handed me a few more. I couldn't see anything but cardboard. (pictures to come!)

After an interesting map-quest led drive, we finally arrived at the veteran's home. We were greeted at the door by the volunteer coordinator and her smiling assistant. They were incredibly grateful for all the work the members did. They said the residents would be very excited to have something so nice and personal to call their own.

Thank you to everyone who participated in making the blankets at convention. You made a difference in the lives of over 70 residents and showed the staff at the veteran's home what values FFA members hold.
Thanks for living to serve.

Start of Summer

I hope everyone is enjoying the first days of summer! So far, I survived my high school graduation and have spent the majority of my days at home before summer gets really busy with the exception of tap practice each night (bet you didn't know I have tap danced for twelve years!). My first real FFA excursion was to St. Paul last Wednesday and Thursday for some meetings and team bonding.

On Wednesday, the officer team met to discuss key messages and the theme for the year. It was great to finally see everyone again. BLAST Off seems like a very long time ago.

Derek, Caitlin, Sydney, and Pete had some very exciting and hilarious stories from the Kansas State Convention. We were all excited to hear Ms. Emily Surdez (who spent a week here during our convention) was elected KS State President. I can't wait to see her and the rest of the new teams at NLCSO (National Leadership Conference for State Officers) in only a week! The four who went to KS were also kind enough to let Justin and I (we had to stay home to graduate) in on the fun by getting us some pretty awesome K-State T-shirts.

After we spent some time catching up on every one's lives over the last month, we finally got down to meeting. Ms. Sheryl Meshke of AMPI spent a very lively afternoon teaching us the keys to developing good messages and a meaningful theme. She made the time fly by and before long we had a list of potential themes.

Are brains were pretty fried by that time so we retired to Beta of Clovia and FarmHouse on the U Campus to change out of OD and then hit B Dubs (Buffalo Wild Wings) for a very fun supper together. Then we picked up a movie together and headed back to FarmHouse to work on the year theme as well as camp themes.

The next day, we worked through everything for Greenhand Camp and spent some time narrowing down our theme options. By the end of the day, we decided on "Experience the Legacy" for the 2008-2009 MN FFA theme.

Over the next week, Jake, Cindy, Shari, Trevor, Rachael, Kaylee, Cassie, and Mike will head down south the Austin, MN (birthplace of Spam!!) along with the rest of their region teams for a very exciting POWER conference. Derek, Sydney, and I will be at college orientation at the U of M and Justin will be doing the same at SDSU. Caitlin and Pete, college veterans as they are, get to skip it. All of us will meet up again on Monday to take off for NLCSO in Aurora, Nebraska, and then on to Greenhand camp which is full at this point. Many more posts to come, especially if my laptop arrives in time for NLCSO. There are still a few camp spots open for SLCCL but they are going fast so sign up now!

Goodbye for tonight!

We have a theme!!

I am very excited to announce the 2008-2009 MN FFA theme..

Experience the Legacy

This is the 80th year of MN FFA. This theme was chosen after much careful consideration to reflect our strong heritage of leadership as well as focus on the dynamic future of agriculture. In the words of Ms. Shari Yurczyk, "MN FFA is 80 and still looking good."
That's all for now but I will be posting again soon (today or tomorrow hopefully!).

Strengths

Hello once again and Happy National Bike to Work Day (I really like odd holidays. If you know any, send them my way!)

The weather outside is beautiful and school days are dwindling (just two left for me). We know summer is on its way! With the end of school comes banquets, graduations, and of course, post season spring sports! Okay, that might not be so exciting for everyone, but this Saturday my softball team is taking on Worthington in section playoffs. This is noteworthy because a certain Ms. Kaylee Williamson (of Region VI President fame) will be playing for Worthington. I'm excited for the game and to see Kaylee in a whole new light.

In my last post, I promised to tell what I learned at BLAST Off. Since there was so much to learn, (it was four days long!) tonight will just be a start.

I started out my first night with a session on strengths. This session made a huge impact on me last year; I was eager to go through it again. Before the conference, each of us took an online test to identify our individual areas of strength. We used www.strengthsquest.com where anyone can take the test for a small fee. The results are a several page read out of five top "signature themes" or areas of strength. Without a test, a way to find our strengths is simply to think about those areas in which success comes easily and then think about why we succeed in them. While it was interesting to read the explanations of these themes and to discover the themes of my teammates, the truly exciting part of this session was how to use these strengths.

How often are we asked to improve on things that are difficult for us while ignoring things that we find naturally easy?

We were given the example of a report card. Pretend a student came home with an B in math and a D in English. Where should that student focus his or her time? Society has taught us to spend time on improving the D. BLAST Off tells instead to focus our time on what we are naturally good at. In this case, math. With some effort, that math grade could be an A, that student could be outstanding in math. Of course when it comes to grades at school, it is important we make sure the English grade doesn't slip lower and that we are giving our full effort and an adequate amount of time to the class. In this way, we manage our weaknesses but develop our strengths. Think of what we could accomplish if we spent most of our time working on getting better at the things we are already good at, things that come naturally to us, things we already love to do. For me, It was an eye opening experience about how I spend my time and effort. We don't have to be good at everything, but we can be great at something.



Goodnight for now, REMEMBER TO GET YOUR CAMP REGISTRATIONS IN!!!!!! Talk to your advisor or look at the state webpage. Camp is an amazing experience, I went as a sophomore and I still talk to many of the friends I made that week! Hope to see you at SGLC and SLCCL this summer!

The next few weeks...

It seems I have a break from the whirlwind of FFA activities, especially since my softball season is preventing me from going to most banquets. Instead of letting this blog lay dormant and unused, I will instead use this calm time to look back at BLAST Off and the beginning of our year in order to both reflect on what I learned and share my new knowledge with the you, the reader of this blog. This will be done with several posts over the next few weeks. I figure if this is an unpopular move, you may stop reading and occupy yourself with something else at any time, but if you wish to stay and read, this first post gives a basic overview of the conference.

First of all, what is BLAST Off?
Well, It's an acronyms that stands for Building Leaders and Strong Teams of Officers.
We like acronyms in the FFA. It's basically a second language. But BLAST Off really is a chance for the newly elected officer team to come together for 4-5 days and grow as individuals under the supervision and guidance of highly trained national presenters in order to further grow as a team later on at NLCSO (I told you we liked acronyms).

So who are these presenters?
Each year National FFA trains a group of very qualified individuals as BLAST Off trainers. For the MN BLAST Off, ours were Mark Jewell and Marlene von Stein.

Mark is more or less a hometown kid, a past state vice president (that's a good thing) and past Region II President as well as AFSA faculty member. He knows how MN FFA works and has seen the successes and challenges of many different MN teams. We like him so much that we forgive his move to Iowa and we all support his new endeavor of taking over the Internet, one ag freelance site at a time.

While Mark gave us the inside scoop, Marlene gave us an outside view. She is a past Ohio state president and is very familiar with joys and stresses of state office. As a recent college graduate, she could relate to many of us. She also provided us with some great feminine insight of traveling in OD, who knew there were so many tricks to wearing nylons?

So time to BLAST Off (terrible pun)
I went through the conference last year and came into this year with mixed feelings. On one hand I was terribly excited to start the new year with this team. On the other hand, I wasn't sure how much I would get out of the experience having gone through the curriculum once before. Thanks to the ingenuity of Mark (he presented last year's conference too), Marlene's fresh face and style, and the growth that came from a year of service, I can confidently say I got much more out of it this year than I did before. Last year I was ready to take the world by storm, confident in about everything. This year I am much more aware of the task at hand. I know what I have to do, but am still working out just how to do it. In short, last year I wanted to be heard more than hear (I did want to learn too, I just wasn't quite sure how to go about it). This year, I already had a good idea of what the work of a state officer looked like and came to the conference with more understanding as well as more open ears and a more open mind and CASEd (that's Copy And Steal Everything) much more usable information.

What was that information?
Tune in to my next post for a start of it. It is now past my bed time (the time on here isn't right and I can't figure out how to change it), but I will write again as soon time allows. Cheers!

Greetings

Good evening MN FFA!

Since my first post was more of tech test, I will start over with a little more substance.

I am Katie Zenk (even though my jacket says Katherine) and I am from the BOLD FFA chapter in the heart of Region V. My school is in Olivia which is the corn capital of the world. I grew up on a small farm near Danube, MN, where my SAE consists mainly of Poultry Production Entrepreneurship with some beef and fruit placement thrown in. My CDEs are poultry evaluation and job interview and I am going to the University of MN - Twin Cities next fall.

So now that you know a little about me, here's what we have been up to for MN FFA in 2008-2009. This afternoon, I just got home from BLAST Off which was an amazing enrichment experience for the state team, presented by quite wonderful national facilitators Mark Jewell and Marlene von Stein. After missing the first few hours of the conference due to an AP test (not quite so fun!) and getting a little lost in Minneapolis with Lavyne Rada, we joined the group already in progress on Friday evening. At the conference, the state team spent time planning parts of the next year and are very excited to announce some very exciting technological advancements, the first one being these blogs. I am still trying to figure out exactly how they work and tonight I'm trying my hand at adding a picture. We will also be uploading clips and video newsletters throughout the year. We also got to work preparing our skills for camps this summer. We are very fired up about the year and remember that camp registration is coming up!

This is going to be a FANTASTIC year!

Please call, email, or facebook me if you ever need anything!!

320-894-8043 katie_zenk@hotmail.com

Blast Off!

We are all setting up individual officer blogs for the summer! Check here for new info soon!