quarterly newsletter of the National FFA Foundation, Spring 2015

Summer 2015

Blue Jackets. Bright Futures!

2015 National FFA Week in Review

Each year, FFA celebrates National FFA Week and this year was no different. The weeklong tradition began in 1947 when the National FFA Board of Directors des-ignated the week of George Washington’s birthday as National FFA Week in rec-ognition of his legacy as an agriculturist and farmer. The first FFA Week was held in 1948. Today, FFA Week always runs Saturday to Saturday and encompasses Feb. 22, Washington’s birthday.

Read more on how the annual event was celebrated and the impact it had on the local, state and national levels.

Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM)ADM Crop Risk Services promoted a campaign through social media to raise money for FFA. For every new Facebook page “like” from Feb. 21 - 28, ADM donated $1 (up to $500).

Dow AgroSciencesDow AgroSciences launched the “Friends of the FFA” employee network to create awareness of their FFA workplace giving campaign. Local student members greeted employees as they arrived to work and passed out flyers encouraging employees to come to a Lunch and Learn. .

On the Road with FFA

The National FFA Officer Team, along with FFA staff, traveled across the United States, visiting local chapters in celebration of National FFA Week. During their travels the team shared their passion and enthusiasm for FFA and agriculture with FFA members. The team had the honor of meeting several dynamic student members, including Carter Jones, a junior in high school with a supervised agricultural experience growing tobacco and sweet potatoes, and Diamond McJuer, who recently received her own FFA jacket and was all smiles the entire day.

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Tractor Supply Company sponsors National FFA Week and raised more than $560,000 in more

than 1,400 of their stores this year.

SUMMER 2015 1We believe in the future of agriculture. www.FFA.org/Give

www.FFA.org/Give 2 SUMMER 2015 We believe in the future of agriculture.

college kids could be coming from ag education programs that FFA has put out,” Reed says. “Great teachers are teaching them not just about agricul-ture, but also STEM—science, technol-ogy, engineering and mathematics—in a hands-on way. Our industry is growing increasingly complex and technologi-cally advanced, so we need the best kids from everywhere to think about agricul-ture. FFA has evolved as our industry has evolved.”

“Our industry needs programmers, accountants, financial folks, people who understand genetics, and technology, to name just a few,” he says. Long gone are the days when FFA was considered just a vocational education club for farm kids.

Part of John Deere’s success hails from its employees, about 150 of whom are also members of an FFA Alumni affiliate. Reed says they’re all deeply committed to helping their community chapters. Thus, it seems the cycle of John Deere support continues.

Recently, a group of retired Deere employees gathered for a luncheon in Sarasota, Fla., to engage with current national officers. And two years ago, during the company’s 70th year of spon-sorship, it celebrated with a gathering of

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to connect the dots from John Deere, a company dedicated to “those linked to the land,” to FFA, an organization devoted to growing the best agriculture leaders in the land.

Perhaps that’s why 2015 marks the 72nd year John Deere has supported the National FFA Foundation and is its longest-running sponsor.

John Deere’s Cory J. Reed, senior vice president, Intelligent Solutions Group (ISG), an FFA alum, and the 2015 chair of the National FFA Foundation Sponsors’ Board, concurs.

“When you see the product of FFA – the kids coming out of the organization – you clearly understand the value it delivers,” he says. “For us, our dealers and our industry, ag education is incred-ibly important, whether these young leaders come directly to John Deere as employees or whether they go into the workforce with another ag employer or another industry. ”

In 1837, blacksmith John Deere invented a plow that would forever change the face of agriculture. Today Deere & Com-pany’s sponsorship helps FFA, which has changed the face of agricultural educa-tion. “Now some of the best-prepared

Why We Give: Deere DonorsBY JAMI STALL

In 2014, John Deere was recognized at the 87th National FFA Convention & Expo. 2015 marks the

72nd year of support to FFA by John Deere.

SyngentaSyngenta launched their annual Blue Banner, Blue Jacket and Rising Sun programs and developed internal communications to increase employee awareness of FFA. The campaign included posters, interoffice mailings, articles and stories in internal publica-tions, volunteer opportunities, a com-munity wall display featuring a local FFA chapter and lunch with a local FFA chapter.

Tractor Supply Company

From Feb. 20 - March 1, Tractor Supply customers across the country donated $563,482, an increase of more than 25 percent from 2014 donations. This year’s donations will result in 427 $1,000 scholarships awarded to FFA members in their pursuit of a college degree. The Growing Scholars program was supported nationally by each of the more than 1,400 Tractor Supply stores as part of FFA Week. Tractor Supply customers supported local FFA chapters and their members by purchasing an FFA emblem for $1 at store registers during checkout. Ninety percent of the funds raised will fund scholarships for FFA members, with the remaining 10 percent benefitting state FFA organizations. Tractor Supply sponsors National FFA Week as a special project of the National FFA Foundation.

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2015 National FFA Week in Review(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1)

www.FFA.org/Give SUMMER 2015 3We believe in the future of agriculture.

So the Wilsons donated $250,000 to establish an endowment to kick-start a multi-level initiative. “We want other investors to put their money where their thoughts are,” says Herman Wilson, who is surrounded by a family of educa-tors, including a sister who is in her 42nd year of teaching and a brother and two sisters-in-law who are retired teachers. The Wilsons believe that good teachers who can motivate students are the heart of FFA.

Director of individual giving and major gifts at the National FFA Foundation, Ryan Gallagher says the Wilson endow-ment represents the first step in trying to turn this national crisis around. It’s part of a much larger effort. “This very generous gift is just the beginning – it’s the initial seed funding to raise aware-ness of the problem and to attract more investors who will help us solve it. This can be the game changer,” he says.

Earmarked solely for developing a plan to attract and retain classroom advisors and teachers, this endowment is the first of its kind. Gallagher says the Wilsons’ passion for the issue encouraged the foundation to go to the drawing board to strategically view it. “We came back with a multi-million dollar idea – and we believe it will take that much to do

Herman Wilson fondly recalls his FFA experiences and the agriculture teacher who inspired him at his little East Texas high school 62 years ago. The school only had five other FFA-sponsored agri-culture teachers since.

But a school with only five agriculture teachers whose careers spanned six decades is an anomaly these days. That’s part of the problem. But Wilson and wife Bobbie, a former teacher herself, hope to be a part of the solution.

“We had a very long history of having ag teachers who stayed around a good long while in this country school,” Herman Wilson says. “That’s the kind of FFA relationship that everyone likes to talk about, but where are we going to get some more of those ag teachers – and ones who want to stay?”

The critical shortage of agricultural education teachers who serve as FFA advisors, combined with the escalating number of FFA members, threatens to become a national crisis.

National Officers Andy Paul and Victoria Maloch visited Herman and Bobbie Wilson to thank

them for their generous support of FFA.

Why We Give: Supporting AdvisorsBY JAMI STALL

“This very generous gift is just the beginning – it’s the initial seed funding to raise awareness of the problem and to attract more in-vestors who will help us solve it”.

Wilbur-EllisWilbur-Ellis created posters and bro-chures for their employees, encouraging workplace giving and promoting their matching gift program.

Thank you to our additional generous supporters for helping us celebrate FFA Week!

Cargill Caterpillar

Culver’s John DeereMahindra

New Holland

Forever Blue Thank you to the following generous supporters who created National FFA Foundation endowments during the 2014 fiscal year:

Don and Mira Ball Blue Jacket Endowment

Kevin and Carol Keith Endowment

Brechbill Farms Endowment

Poeschl Family Scholarship

George R. and Viola W. Rue Foundation Endowment

Salter Revocable Trust Scholarship Endowment

James E. and Barbara A. Torrey State Presidents’ Conference

Endowment

Robert and Pauline Wells Scholarship

Herman T. and Bobbie Wilson Advisors Making a Difference

Endowment

Don and Mira Ball (CONTINUED ON PAGE 4)

2015 National FFA Week in Review(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2)

everything necessary to improve the recruitment and retention of agricul-ture educators,” he explains. “With the support of people such as Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and others we hope will step up to the plate, we feel confident that we can make that happen.”

“The Wilsons’ generous gift will strengthen agricultural education by aggressively investing in teachers, who are the real change agents that impact our students,” National FFA Organization Chief Executive Officer Dr. W. Dwight Armstrong said. "Thanks to the Wilsons’ passion for agricultural education, FFA members will continue to benefit greatly from strong, commit-ted teachers.”

active FFA youth and proud FFA Alumni now employed at Deere.

Reed hopes other corporations will discover an equally good fit, working together to prepare the next generation of agricultural leaders.

Give the Gift of Blue

Make a difference in the life of a young person while giving

in honor or in memory of a loved one.

To learn more, visit Donate.FFA.org

Why We Give: Deere Donors(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2)

Why We Give: Supporting Advisors(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3)

www.FFA.org/Give We believe in the future of agriculture. 4 SUMMER 2015

6060 FFA DRIVE P.O. BOX 68960 INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46268-0960

Thank you for believing in the future of agriculture.