Fall Newsletter 2013-14

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MINNESOTA FFA NEWSLETTER

A Summer Full of FFA Adventure!

Region I President: Maddi Fraser, Mahnomen FFA

Region II President: Matt Stone, Staples-Motley FFA

Region III President: Sarah Lachowitzer, Herman-Norcross FFA

Region IV President: Andrew Krause, Buffalo FFA

Summer/fall 2013

Stuart Schumacher, Vice President

Southwest Star Concept FFA

Brooke Wente, Secretary Morris Area FFA

Heidie Sloot, Sentinel Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop

Pioneer Express FFA

Mallory Pagel, President Fulda FFA

Dylan Antoff, Treasurer Winona FFA

Brandon Roiger, Reporter Sleepy Eye FFA

“I believe that American agriculture can and will hold true to the best traditions of our national life…”

- E. M. Tiffany, FFA Creed

Our team has been extremely busy this entire summer with camps, professional industry visits,

partner visits, and planning days. Here is a summer update on what the state officer team has been up to

the last couple of months.

R Region V President: Dalton Kampsen, New London-Spicer FFA

Region VI President: Scott Vogel, Springfield FFA

Region VII President: Erin Larson, NHREG FFA

Region VIII President: Valerie Earley Spring Valley-Wykoff FFA

Minnesota National Officer Candidate: Sabrina Kieser, Winsted FFA


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PASS IT ON!

High school students who take two or more career and technical education courses (such as agricultural education classes) have an average graduation percentage of 99% in Minnesota compared to the average state graduation rate of 75%.

Minnesota FFA Newsletter Summer/Fall 2013

June 4th: AgriBank The officers sat down with AgriBank for a breakfast with some of their staff, and shared personal stories regarding involvement with FFA and thoughts on the agriculture industry 5-‐10 years down the road. After the breakfast, the entire team spent the rest of the day prepping for the leadership conferences that would be hosted at Deep Portage Conservation Center in the summer.

June 5: MN Department of Ag & UMN Ag Ed Dept. Visits The next day, the constitutional officers began at the Department of Agriculture to meet with appointed staff, discuss some of the hot-‐button issues in agriculture, and be educated on some government initiatives in agriculture. Next, the officers headed to the University of Minnesota to meet with department faculty to discuss the growing need of agricultural education teachers and industry professionals.

June 17-21: National Leadership Conference for State Officers (NLCSO) The constitutional officers traveled to Ankeny, Iowa to meet with state officers from the states of Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and South Dakota, and receive further team development for the upcoming year. The officers worked a little bit more on planning out some of the leadership conferences and were even able to steal a few ideas from other states to put into action for Minnesota FFA.

June 24-28: State Greenhand Leadership Conference Approximately 139 first year members attended MN FFA’s first summer leadership conference. Members learned a lot about the basics of FFA, but members also learned about goal setting, character, personal growth, and stereotypes. All of the greenhands and state officers left the camp feeling satisfied with the experiences FFA provided that week!

ABOVE: Constitutional officers at NLCSO with facilitators Seth Heinert, Bethany Blackburn and

national officer Joenelle Futrell.

ABOVE: Greenhand FFA members worked hard during State Greenhand Leadership Conference held near Hackensack, MN from June 24-28.


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July 9: MAAE Conference & Strengths Training The constitutional officers were on the road again the morning of July 9th to Minnesota Ag Teacher’s Conference to engage in strengths training with Paul Hansen of Cargill. The officers also had the chance to meet with different teachers across the state and give them an update on the latest happenings of the Minnesota FFA Association.

July 14-20: State Leadership Conference for Chapter Leaders

There were two sessions of SLCCL, four days each of 200 members learning about agriculture issues, how to advocate, team development, and most importantly activity ideas to bring back to their chapters. Each year, the state officer team is excited after every camp to hear about the unique ideas FFA chapters implement in their communities. July 22-26: State Presidents’ Conference (SPC) Mallory and Stuart had the chance to meet with state presidents from across the country, discuss National FFA Organization issues, and also meet with federal government representatives such as Senator Amy Klobuchar, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and other key people needed to encourage career and technical education. At SPC, the National FFA Organization also released its annual theme – Ignite. The theme will be featured at National FFA Convention in Louisville

July 25: MN FFA Foundation Golf Tournament Brooke, Dylan, Heidie, and Brandon attended the Foundation Golf Tournament in Belle Plaine with many surrounding region and chapter officers as well as national officer candidate Sabrina Kieser from Howard Lake-‐Waverly-‐Winsted. A short storm interrupted golf play for a short period of time, but the rest of the evening went smoothly with plenty of interaction between MN FFA members and partners. August 7-8: Farm Fest All of the state officers attended Farm Fest on the 7th and had the chance to meet with FFA Foundation partners at different exhibits. The next day, Mallory was able to speak on a panel with several agriculture industry representatives including the Commissioner of Agriculture, Dave Frederickson about the importance of agricultural education and career and technical education in classrooms.

Minnesota FFA Newsletter Summer/Fall 2013

ABOVE: Members learned the importance of teamwork at State Leadership Conference for Chapter Leaders at Deep Portage Conservation Center from July 14-20.

ABOVE RIGHT: Sleepy Eye FFA member Lauren Laffen won the social media scavenger hunt in the Minnesota Farm Bureau tent at Farm Fest.

ABOVE LEFT: MN FFA President, Mallory Pagel, speaks on a panel of agricultural representatives.


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CHS Miracle Of Birth Center

By the Numbers: 207 live births of calves, lambs,

piglets, and chicks!

Over one million visitors stopped by to see the baby farm animals and learn about where

they come.

Above: Barnyard attendants from weeks one and two worked in the CHS Miracle of Birth Center over 14 hours

each day to create a successful experience for fairgoers.

August 14: Board Meeting The Minnesota FFA state officer team, an adult teacher representative from each region, alumni, foundation representation, and state FFA staff gathered to discussed the current projects of the Minnesota FFA Association. August 15: AgCountry Visit The entire officer team was able to make it to Fargo, ND to meet with some friends of Minnesota FFA. We learned about the farm credit service system, its operational system, the relation between lenders and clients, and the atmosphere of a job with AgCountry!

Minnesota FFA Newsletter

August 22-September 2: Minnesota State Fair (FFA Chapter House, Leadership Center, and CHS Miracle of Birth Center) Every day, several state officers worked in the FFA Leadership Center to educate fair-‐goers on agricultural education, the general agriculture industry, and the Minnesota FFA Association. During FFA weekend, the last four days of the fair, members were able to show their livestock, technology, mechanics, and crops projects. Sunday night, there was an FFA dance, and Monday morning, there was an awards program – both were conducted to recognize the awesome achievements of Minnesota FFA members across the state.

What to Expect

Flat Fletcher - Flat Fletcher is an owl on a piece of laminated paper that will be sent to FFA chapters in Minnesota for them to take pictures with at chapter events, in the classroom, etc. Fletcher will also make appearances with the state officers to the events that they attend, including conventions and professional development visits. The purpose of Flat Fletcher is to highlight the unique activities each chapter does in their school, community, and classroom – especially those chapters who great activities that sometimes disappear in the spotlight. Keep your eye out for Flat Fletcher pictures on our Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook pages, and do not be afraid to "like" him!

Summer/Fall 2013

Remind101-‐ This is a new texting subscription service that Minnesota FFA just signed up for. The officer team has created an account with Remind101, which will allow any person to subscribe to text updates from the Minnesota FFA Association. Carrier rates do apply, but the amount of messages sent are conservative.


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National FFA Convention – October 28-‐November 2 are the dates of the 85th National FFA Convention held in Louisville, Kentucky. Minnesota FFA members will be competing in almost fifty Career Development Events, be judged in several proficiency areas as national finalists, and compete against other chapters as models of innovation. The National FFA Convention is the largest student convention in the entire country and ranks third as the largest overall convention in the United States.

Minnesota FFA Newsletter

During events such as national convention in late October and state convention in late April, updates will become more frequent. You don’t have to have a smartphone, and you can unsubscribe at any time! Expect deadline reminders, new ideas, upcoming dates, and fun facts. Stay connected to MN FFA by texting “@ffamn” without quotation marks to 651-‐318-‐3140. Classroom Visits – During late September and early October, the state officer team will be visiting Region II and Region IV, which consists of the northeastern corner of the state and most of the metro area. Agricultural education visits range from activities in the classroom or engaging in an FFA chapter activity.

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Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have recently become hotspots for the Minnesota FFA Association in order to update our followers about what is going on in our state. Because of our experience with social media, we wanted to pass on our knowledge so that agriculture can keep gaining a larger presence with the general public. Here are some tips on how to create a successful social media followership on both a business and personal account.

1. 1. Be Engaging Show your followers that your account or business is interesting and get them involved. If you ask a question, people will reply to your post and hopefully share your message with their followers by retweeting or sharing your post. Start a social media contest – make your followers search for you at a career fair for a scavenger hunt or even just have them take a picture that best captures the beauty of corn and tweet it at you. The winner of any contest could simply get a shout out as a prize.

2. 2. Be Professional AND Familiar

Obviously, your social media account has a purpose; otherwise you wouldn’t have created it. Make sure that your posts and tweets have purpose as well, but also remember to keep them fun. Don’t let social media be a tool of venting, make sure that your followers understand your tweets. Let your audience be able to relate to what you are saying. Your followers want to know what is going on with your business or life, but typically only to a certain extent. In this social media scenario, you tweet or post what people want to see.

Social Media Tips One of the hottest trends in technology right now is social media. Social media has become the place where the general public speaks—and speaks loud. Because of social media, pictures, videos, posts, and quotes have gone viral to the global population. Social media is the number one way to communicate public information to a mass amount of people in a short amount of time.

Summer/Fall 2013


Minnesota FFA Summer/Fall 2013

Fuel Your Fire Minnesota FFA 2013-2014

3. 3. Be Unique Add flavor to what you are saying on social media. Twenty different accounts can post that the Farm Bill is an issue, but posting why it is important to you specifically is key to an engaging post. Also, having specific categorized days might help keep your social media accounts personal. For example, Minnesota FFA has Fresh Fruit Friday Fun Fact and Tuesday Trivia on some of our social media outlets. One very popular trend that gains attraction during the week throughout social media is Throwback Thursday.

4. Be Visual

Yes, pictures are very important visuals in a successful social media post, but pictures aren’t always convenient or achievable. That means you should use descriptive words that allow your audience to picture what is happening. Basically, if you don’t have a picture, the audience can hopefully visualize something in their head. When a picture is included, make sure it has quality. The better photography skills behind a picture, the more likes, shares, and retweets it will receive.

5. Be Interactive

Make sure you give your followers the time of day. Give them a shout out if they post something on your page, don’t be afraid to reply. Your followers will only feel important if you actually believe they are important and attempt to portray that by retweeting, liking, or sharing things that other people have said. Show your followers you care about their opinions, educate them even if you don’t agree, and praise them when you do agree.

Fall Newsletter 2013-14

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