Current News
2010 National FFA Week Planning Materials
The 2010 National FFA Week Planning Materials Are Now Available on the FFA Website
Now is the time to plan for a successful National FFA Week program and the support materials are now available at: www.ffa.org/index.cfm?method=c_programs.FFAWeek. I encourage you to promote the website in your state as well as plan for state events highlighting Agricultural Education as well as participate in the first annual Teach Ag Day which will be during National FFA Week. FFA Week materials and info can be found at: www.naae.org/TeachAg/teachagday.php.
Convention Housing Opened in Mid-January
Convention housing for chapters and individuals (those not part of a State group) will open in mid-January. You may wish to alert any chapters of this so that they can watch the website for the opening and best possible options. For more info or questions, feel free to contact Ellen Williams at ewilliams@ffa.org.
Has one of your Proficiency Excel applications locked up?
We have received several telephone calls where the Proficiency Excel applications have locked up. The student enters information, saves it and when they go back into the application cells are locked. In reviewing the applications in question, we find the tabs at the bottom of the page are highlighted (appear white). Once those tabs are highlighted, the page is locked. To unlock the page go to a page that is not highlighted near the end of the application. Save it and you should be able to enter again into the application. Many highlight those tabs to print the pages specified and forget to go back and unlock those pages by clicking off of the tabs. If you have any questions, contact rhunsinger@ffa.org or dsellers@ffa.org.
Thank you!
Interim Executive Director for National FFA Foundation
Bill Fleet has accepted our invitation to serve as interim executive director for the National FFA Foundation. Bill's appointment will ensure continuity of leadership and operations while a national search is conducted for a full time executive director.
National FFA Commemorative Coin Bills
The National FFA Foundation and the National FFA Organization are working together to propose The National FFA Commemorative Coin Act.
The National FFA Commemorative Coin Act (U.S. Senate Bill #S.1553 and U.S. House of Representatives Bill #H.3464) will seek a U.S.-minted commemorative coin honoring the 85th anniversary of the National FFA Organization in 2012. FFA is working with key leaders in Congress to promote and gain co-sponsors of the bill. In order for the bill to emerge from committee, FFA must enlist a two-thirds majority of 67 Senate co-sponsors and 290 House co-sponsors.
NEW 2010 Livestock Nomination Form
The attached Nomination Declaration Form is required with all livestock nominations in 2010. The form is a combination of 2009's Housing and Care Form and Household Nomination Form. The goal of this document is to provide a simpler more streamlined approach to nominating livestock.
Follow the link below to access the Teach Ag Day tool kit. www.naae.org/htmlemail/Teach%20Ag%20Campaign/toolkits-web.html
National Teach Ag Day Opportunties
Even though Teach Ag Day is geared more towards teachers, there are many ways to celebrate the profession of agricultural education and encourage students to consider a career in this profession. Below are some specific resources and ideas for how to celebrate National Teach Ag Day.
Free Parliamentary Procedure Teaching Materials
Click once on the link below to view over 29 FREE parliamentary procedure teaching packages that can be downloaded and printed. Some include a worksheet and test. It is recommended that you scroll down the entire web page to view all the items.
Free Parliamentary Procedure Teaching Materials
Eustis-Farnam FFA Agronomy, Food Science, and Meats Evaluation CDEs
The Eustis-Farnam FFA announces the Annual Eustis-Farnam FFA Agronomy, Food Science, and Meats Evaluation CDEs. The contests will be held Saturday, February 27, 2010 at the Eustis-Farnam High School in Eustis, NE. The alternate date will be Saturday March 7, 2009.
State CDE guidelines have been updated and are available at www.ksre.ksu.edu/ffa_cde/Default.aspx. All Career Development Events are updated EXCEPT Agronomy and Ag Technology Management, which should be available soon. For questions or more information contact Sandy Klein at sandy@k-state.edu or 785-532-5121.
Check out the National FFA Update at view.nationalffainfo.org
Get Connected with LifeKnowledge Webinars
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You can see all the inspiring moments from the National FFA Convention. Watch keynote speakers, national officer retiring addresses, behind-the-scenes stories and much more! Use them in the classroom or for chapter activities. The convention video page has all the action and will link you to more videos on SchoolTube.com. And stay tuned! More convention videos will be posted throughout the coming weeks. Subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out when new videos are posted.
Looking for ways to make classroom or service activities more engaging and effective? Service learning lets your students use their agriculture skills to meet community needs. Living to Serve is a grant program of the National FFA that is funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The goal of the program is to engage rural youth in service-learning projects. Rural FFA chapters can receive up to $3,000 to develop, implement and evaluate service-learning projects that meet an authentic community need. Visit the Living to Serve website for more information. Applications for the 2010-2011 school year are available now.