MN FFA Vice President 2008-09

A Fond Farewell...

2009-04-30T15:41:00.008-05:00

Minnesota FFA,

Somehow a year has escaped us and my term has come to an end. Thank you to everyone who was celebrated the past year at convention and experienced the legacy of eighty years of Minnesota FFA. While each of us only hold this legacy for a little while, realize what you are doing in your blue jacket today will serve to strengthen this organization for generations to come.

I would like to thank everyone who made this year so special: all of the SGLC and SLCCL participants, Team Carlos, all eight teams of region officers, everyone who welcomed me into your chapter for visits and banquets, those of you who stopped me in the halls at convention or hugged me on stage, the foundation sponsors, the alumni members, state staff, and my teammates. Whether you realize it or not, you touched my life this year and I will never forget what you have done for me. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to represent Minnesota FFA and the agriculture industry over the past twelve months. It was an absolute honor and a privilege.

Below, that is after the gavel picture, you will find a manuscript of my RA (which is a little different than what I actually said but you get the idea!) for those of you who asked about it.

Please take a little time to reflect on where your blue jacket is taking you. I promise it can bring you anywhere you have ever wanted to go. Keep calling, emailing, and facebooking me, even if I am now old. I still will love to hear from all of you! Get to know the new team too, they are pretty awesome!

Wherever I end up in life, there will always be a blue jacket in my closet and this organization and all of its members and supporters in my heart. Thank you to all who made this the most incredible year of my life!!

- Your old has been 2008-2009 State Vice President

Katie Zenk

360 Degrees...

Once there was a man who dreamed of being famous and wealthy. He couldn’t act, his voice was definitely best in the shower, and believe me, he just wasn’t the model type, so he settled on one giant, odd master plan. He would figure out a way to catch the sun and hold it in his hands. He started by stretching and reaching for it. When that didn’t work, he jumped into the air. Then he got a ladder, and then a bigger ladder. He tried everything he could possibly think of and was almost ready to start drawing up plans for a rocket ship when a new idea came to him.
What if he wasn’t really holding the sun? What if he just made it look like he was?
He bought a camera and tripod and set it up in a deserted place. He waited for dusk, set the timer, and positioned his hands just right so when the picture was developed, it looked like he was holding the sun.

The image spread around the world and soon the man had not only the riches he had always dreamed of, but thousands of adoring fans. Spurred by his success, he decided to take another picture. He got out his camera and his tripod and went to a new place. He arranged his hands at just the right angle as before but as the shutter clicked, he realized something was different. He wasn’t alone. Groups of his fans had followed him. Those who stood in the front saw him exactly as he meant the picture to turn out. But the people who were behind him saw his confident form reaching toward the sun, but in his hands, they saw what he knew all along, that he was holding nothing.

(sitting) I’m four years old, sitting in ECFE class. I’m excited. The question of the day is “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I know exactly what I will say. I didn’t spend years with crayons, scissors, and glue for nothing. No, I knew what I wanted to be… an artist. We are sitting in a circle sharing our answers. First, one of the five ashleys in my class –
I want to be a ballerina.
Psh, an artist is way cooler than that.
Then Alicia, I want to be a ballerina too!
…weirdos..
Five more girls (most of them named Ashley) and five answers later, we had five more future ballerinas. Finally it was my turn.
When I grow up I want to be a… a… a.. somehow my mind quit working, I was panicking inside, maybe being an artist wasn’t so cool… finally I blurted out…a ballerina!
Evidently a ballerina was the thing to be, everyone else wanted to do it. Why not me too?
Let’s stop and think about how crazy this idea is. Me, a ballerina? I’m pretty sure the word “graceful” has never EVER been used to describe me. Heck, I put on flats just for this speech! But, I made myself look like I thought I was supposed, even though I knew it wasn’t what I wanted.

Fast forward a year. I’ve hit the big time – that’s right, Kindergarten. Growing up as an only child, walking into a classroom full of five year olds offered a whole new realm of friends, toys, and most importantly for me, chances to make people laugh. Now I was a fairly innocent kid, but one day I was sitting next to my friend Shane cutting out my latest construction paper masterpiece (since I was still going to be an artist). I can still remember his flaming red hair and runny nose. We always got along well, that is until I thought my classmates would find it hilarious if I gave his bowl-cut a little trim of my own. That’s right, safety scissor in hand, I cut his hair. In my five year old opinion, it didn’t look half bad, it was barely noticeable. Unfortunately for me, my teacher strongly disagreed. Since Shane didn’t mind and the other kids thought it was funny, I was spurred to try something else. I waited until Shane got up to sharpen his pencil and when he got back, I yanked his chair straight out from under him.
The only thing audible above the laughter of my classmates was my teacher… yelling… at me.
I was quickly whisked into the hallway. My less than pleased teacher roared down on me and said a lot of things... most of them very quickly and very angrily… but I must have got the point because I don’t think I have ever gotten in that much trouble again. The one thing that I do remember her saying was “Katie, you are usually such a nice girl, why can’t you be like that all of the time?”
I never had even considered the idea that I wasn’t being the same person all of the time.
In kindergarten, I wanted everyone to see me as the class clown, as someone hilariously funny. While some of them probably saw that, more probably saw me as being a jerk, at least on that day. My teacher recognized that I could be a “nice girl” and made me wonder why I couldn’t be like that all the time.
At four years old, sure my friends might have liked the idea of us starting a dance company together, but they only saw the front view, the me I thought they should see, the future ballerina. I didn’t let them see the me I truly was, the me that I saw, the potential artist.
It’s all like the man and the sun. On the surface, from the front, both he and I looked exactly like we wanted portray ourselves, but underneath, from a different angle, we just looked kind of sad, pathetic, and empty. Even while other people may have liked his picture or what I said or did, he knew his hands were empty and I knew that I wasn’t being myself, we knew that we weren’t holding anything.
So have you figured it out? That story and this speech aren’t about grabbing a flaming ball of gas. No, we’re talking about integrity… being who you say that you are, being the same person all the time, from every angle, from 360 degrees.
Integrity might be easy to fake from the front, but someone will always see the other side. No matter what people think, you will always know if you have integrity or not.
The title of this speech is 360 degrees and I hope some of you remember it as a way to remember to have integrity and look the same from every angle, but I know that most of you will probably forget it. So here’s a way that I bet you won’t forget. When girls…and sometimes boys… try on clothes, first they look at themselves in the mirror to see how they look from the front as that’s the view most people get of them. Then, they turn around and ask that one key question –
How does my butt look?
And that’s exactly what we are talking about here. We spend a lot of time worrying about what our face looks like, about how other people see us. We should be spending more time thinking about how that other side looks, the side that people don’t see too often, the part of our character where the sun doesn’t always shine.
I remember what it felt like the first time I put on OD, well maybe not the first time because the first time I thought I looked like a stewardess, but after about a year or so in the organization. Every time I put on my jacket, I got that feeling, you know the one I’m talking about, that feeling that with a zip of this jacket I am instantly a good person, instantly the best version of myself. I know you all understand what I am talking about, it’s the feeling of pride for toughing out hot corduroy on a sweaty ninety degree July day, it’s the excitement of pinning on your new greenhand or chapter degree to your jacket, or even finally attaching that chain, it’s the rush of nerves before reciting opening ceremonies at your chapter banquet, and it’s the feeling you get from looking around this room and knowing that you have at least one amazing thing in common with everyone here.
Because of over eighty years of hard work, strength, and dedication, over half a million members nationwide are proud to wear this jacket and instantly be recognized as “good people” just because of the ideals of our organization.
But here’s the thing. It’s not just about looking good.
I remember the first time I put on THIS jacket, my state officer jacket. Sure I was excited for the year to start, but as I pulled it on I couldn’t help but to think of all the state officers who had made a difference in my life. They were polished, they were talented, they were AWESOME! I was not that cool. How in the heck was I supposed to represent the 9000 members of our state? Sure I could pull on my OD and look the part but what about when I wasn’t wearing it. (Take Jacket Off)
See, what’s true for all of us is that this jacket cannot stand on its own. The passion, the dedication, the hard work that this jacket represents has to come from somewhere else, it has to come from deep within ourselves. Without each and every one of us living our lives up to the standards of this jacket, there is nothing to give our organization shape. Without the integrity of the person, the jacket just collapses. (drop jacket) That’s why it is important to be the same person out of this jacket as you are in it. I guarantee every time you put on this jacket, you will look good. Because, I mean, who doesn’t look good in this? At least from most angles? It’s easy to pull on official dress and to look like we have it all, like we’re holding the sun. What happens when we take this jacket off? Are we just some crazy guy standing with our hands up in the air wishing we are who we want to be? Next time you zip up your jacket (put jacket on), ask yourself, do you really believe in those standards and ideals or are they just an act for you? Take a second to think about what’s under this corduroy, think about how your butt looks.
What others see isn’t always who you are, but in the end, you know if you are holding integrity or not.
Who are you in this jacket?
But more importantly, who are you out of it?
Who are you from 360 degrees?

Thank you all for a tremendous year.

Region V Banquet

2009-04-30T15:02:00.002-05:00

On the way home from South Dakota, Derek and I stopped off at the BEST region banquet ever, my home in Region V. I could have sat and chatted for hours with all of the old friends around. The Kerkhoven - Murdock - Sunburg school were excellent hosts for the event as they coordinated all of the facilities and worked stage crew. The job the officers did made me proud! I loved the picture reflections by Rachael, Cody, Michaela, Beth, Nichole, Dave, Kelsey, and Kate. I don't think I will forget Beth's line of living life like a mullet any time soon! The installation of officers made feel incredibly old but also super excited for the coming year in our region.

Good luck Kelsey, Michaela, Beth, Tyler, Megan, Dave, Hillary, and Jaclyn!!!!

Thank you to everyone in Region V for mentoring, helping, guiding, and joking around with me for the past five years!

South Dakota State Convention: It's My Life, It's Now or Never

2009-04-30T14:53:00.002-05:00

Brian, Shad, Wyatt, Shane, Josh, and Maria certainly know how to put on a great convention! Derek and I met up with Justin and his girlfriend Kristin (who is super awesome!) as well as Cindy Young to take in the 81st South Dakota state convention. As we arrived, we were met with many familiar faces like last year's state officer team of Matt, Sara, Brett, Erin, Lauren, and Noelle and even found ourselves some native Minnesotans like past region three president Vanessa Pooch. Unlike MN, all of their sessions are in one place, the HPER Center where the Jack Rabbits play basketball. One really cool thing that was different from home was some of their CDE awards. In one contest, instead of plaques the winners recieved cordless drills! And in another, the winner was presented with a chain saw!! SD even has a few CDEs that we don't like the radio broadcasting contest and the range plant identification event. The convention flew by and soon we were headed back toward home to set up for our own!

Watertown - Mayer Banquet

2009-04-30T14:48:00.002-05:00

First stop on Derek and my three day FFA road trip was the Watertowm Mayer Banquet. I loved getting to see a bunch of super cool girls from SGLC (Amber, Ashely, Hailey, and Casey!) and some awesome boys from SLCCL (Nic and Cole) as well as meet their families. For those of you who were wondering what video I talked about in my speech, here is the link! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBTVdnWj1hM

A Region 5 girl's trip to Region 8...

2009-04-08T22:40:00.009-05:00

I felt like I was crossing some serious party lines by attending the Region VIII banquet on Tuesday. All friendly (or my and Derek's) rivalry aside, I was very excited about the chance to celebrate a year of accomplishments with the biggest region in the state. Pam Dahlman and I had the pleasure of introducing Mike Sheely for his retiring address. Unfortunately for us, technical difficulties delayed our powerpoint for a few minutes and we had to resort to embarrassing Mike stories to pass the time. Eventually the technology did work and we got to introduce Mike with a whole array of embarrassing pictures in our take on the youtube video Kittens Inspired by Kittens. As promised, the Mike version should be hitting facebook soon. After the awards night was over, we joined the new and old region officers for some relaxing time at Applebees where I found out such facts as Jenny Subra has four camels and Jared Hanson can sing all (or most for sure) of the words to "Poker Face."

Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg Chapter Officer Interviews

2009-04-08T22:34:00.002-05:00

After numerous times being interviewed for office, I finally had the chance to sit on the other side of the table while helping to interview the KMS chapter officer candidates. After watering greenhouse plants with Michael and Taylor, we finally got down to business. I was incredibly impressed by the poise, passion, and creativity of all who ran, especially with some of the more interesting questions we threw their way. I know the chapter is in great hands for the coming year.

BOLD Banquet

2009-04-08T22:28:00.004-05:00

I think Dorothy said it best in the Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home!" My trip to the BOLD FFA banquet was one of the most special and meaningful experiences I have had all year. Not only was it my home chapter, but it was also our first banquet in twelve years. With a lot of parent, sponsor, and community support, the night was a huge success. I don't know that I've ever been more excited than when the officer recited opening ceremonies in front of a crowd of nearly one hundred people. Chapter President Brendon and all of the officers put a lot of work into the night and it showed! I've never been so proud to say that I am a member of the BOLD FFA Chapter.

Oh what a Friday!

2009-04-04T19:38:00.002-05:00

Friday started out bright and early (or early for a college a student, that is) with a trip to Northrop Auditorium for convention walk through. As we laid out our stage plans, it's hard to believe that it was already eleven months ago that we ran up that ramp onto the stage. From there we headed to a convention advisory board meeting, and then on to CHS for a two hour class in giving effective feedback. Then I headed west on I-94 all the way to Alexandria for the rescheduled Region III banquet. The officer team did an excellent job planning the night and I loved Shari Yurczyk's retiring address based on the incredibly awesome movie Finding Nemo.

AMPI Annual Meeting

2009-04-04T19:32:00.003-05:00

American Pride was the theme for Thursday huge dairy get-together. Sheryl Meshke and crew put together a great opening session for these proud dairy producers. The hospitality room full of cheese, milk, and yogurt made for a tasty break. I'm still learning a lot about the dairy industry but couldn't help but be impressed by the pride and passion of every producer we met. I never felt more proud to be a part of agriculture or a citizen of this country as Derek and I presented the American flag in front of the group of veterans. American Pride was definitely a very fitting theme indeed!

FILL Conference

2009-03-29T22:57:00.003-05:00

This weekend, I was in Annandale for the FILL Conference. This was only the second year of this conference's existence and is focused at chapter members who have already been to a leadership conference. Over ninety attendees made the weekend a huge success. Derek and Caitlin spent Friday night at Camp Friendship while Pete, Sydney, and I camped out for night two on Saturday. The conference was presented by Mark Jewell and Angela Fredericks but we, unfortunately, didn't get to see much of them. As they led the participants through exciting challenges like creating their own communities, we worked on different pieces of convention like our RA's with Ms. Lavyne Rada, the Hutchinson FFA advisor. On Saturday night, we kicked it up with a dance, open gym, ping pong, and even Twilight. Even though it was probably my last time doing the FFA dance as a state officer, it was sure a good time teaching it to a whole new group of people. After a short reflections program, we delivered cookies to the cabins and even had the pleasure of watching Austin Sheehan proudly represent the Marshall chapter by eating a dead box elder bug for $5. After a short night sleep in some really interesting beds, we had breakfast where I was serenaded by the lovely ladies of region 8 to commemorate my nineteenth birthday and headed back to the U.

Redwood Valley FFA Banquet

2009-03-29T22:39:00.004-05:00

Over the last week, I went from a fiftieth anniversary to a groundbreaking very first banquet! Redwood Valley certainly put a lot of effort into their inaugural program. I loved their skit about the history of agricultural education and their corn and candle center pieces set the right atmosphere. Even the piano music during supper was first rate. The script was full of clever puns and they had some real claims to fame with a stack of accomplishments and even a national AgDay essay winner. The very strong Alumni chapter served root beer floats after the awards as a great way to wrap up the night. Everyone involved should be very proud of this fifty-five member strong chapter that will surely only continue to grow!

AgriBank

2009-03-23T14:41:00.002-05:00

AgriBank may be one of the friendliest organizations we've had the opportunity of working with this year. They believe so much in the mission of FFA and welcome any chance to help out our organization. Caitlin, Justin, Cindy Young, and I spent a few hours with them today to share some of our experiences from China since AgriBank helped sponsor part of our trip. We had a great time discussing different parts of our journey and answering their interesting questions. I only wish we could have stayed a little longer!

Parkers Prairie 50th Anniversary

2009-03-23T14:34:00.006-05:00

On Friday night, Derek, Caitlin, and I had an interesting time at the MPLS-STP Airport looking for one National Eastern Regional Vice President. When we did find Ms. Hannah Crossen, she couldn't find her luggage! Luckily it arrived shortly at her hotel shortly after we had supper.

Saturday afternoon, Hannah, Caitlin, and I loaded into a Department of Education van with Mr. Larsen and made the trek two and half hours northwest to Parkers Prairie to join in the celebration of their chapter's fiftieth anniversary. Over 230 people were in attendance and that's saying something since the town's population is only 991! Some special guests of honor included the very first chapter president, state degree recipient, American degree recipient, female member, a three generation family of members, and a whole bunch of alumni. The current members did a great job putting the program together and gave some of the best introductions I have ever heard at a chapter banquet. We had the privilege of listening to Hannah deliver the keynote address as well as an inspiring tale from a the state vice president from forty years ago! After the program, they took some very cool pictures of each decade of members who attended. A dance followed the banquet but we headed back to the cities since it was already a late night. Thanks for letting us share in your celebration and great job!

Roland Peterson Science Fair

2009-03-22T01:02:00.003-05:00

On Wednesday, Derek and I helped Jackie Koch and Dr. Roland Peterson set up rooms for the science fair. On Thursday, Caitlin and I, along with other U of M students, rejoined Doc Pete to help out with the 70 participant strong contest. It was great to see the amount of junior high representation as well as how excited the purple ribbon winners were. I never knew about this event when I was in high school but it sure is a great way to highlight agriscience!

Minnesota Turkey Growers Annual Meeting

2009-03-22T00:52:00.002-05:00

I was in fantastic company on Wednesday for the MTGA annual meeting. It was held at the RiverCentre and I had the chance to sit next to their director and MN FFA Alumni's past president Steve Olson. The Commissioner of Agriculture and the president of the National Turkey Federation both offered greetings. It was a great way to spend time with a great industry!

Board Meeting and Proficiency Review Day

2009-03-22T00:45:00.002-05:00

Thursday meant the spring board meeting where we covered an impressive amount of information, almost all of it having to do with convention. The night before, Derek and I thought everyone might like a treat so we made two layer cakes and decorated them ourselves.

Friday was the proficiency review day and nominating committee training. We worked on convention planning in a room between these two events. Proficiency review meant a few nervous jitters for a couple of us. The nom com training allowed us to chat with this year's nom com. They were so fired up about their very important role that I can't wait to see who they select!... well, maybe I can wait 38 days... it isn't too far away!

Morris Chapter Visit

2009-03-22T00:41:00.002-05:00

Justin and I headed north on Monday to visit the junior high class taught be Ms. Mortenson at Morris. The whole class was incredibly willing to try anything as they made blind-folded peanut butter sandwiches, stretched to their limits, and even made some human tables. Their excitement was a great way to start off spring break.

AFSA Overnight Leadership Conference

2009-03-22T00:35:00.003-05:00

After spending the morning at Alliance Pipeline and the afternoon working on state convention planning, Derek, Caitlin, and I headed to the Academy for Science and Agriculture in Vadnais Heights to attend their OLC Lock-in. This is a very cool idea that Ms. Pint brought all the way from her experience in Pennsylvania. The conference had a super hero theme and started out with a table decorating contest between groups. My group, the Incredible Hulks, were clearly the most creative as we had live entertainment and matching blue headbands. Then the three of us got to present a workshop that included play doh and then had a pizza supper before heading out for the night. We were sorry to miss the rest of the conference but decided to get a jump on sleep before heading into a hectic spring break.

Alliance Pipeline

2009-03-22T00:30:00.003-05:00

On Friday, we had the chance to spend the morning with Alliance Pipeline at their North American headquarters in Eden Prairie. They are a large gas pipeline that runs from Canada to Chicago and comes within just a few miles of my house. They are also a fantastic sponsor of FFA and provide camp scholarships for many members ever year. Our meeting was incredibly interesting as they gave us a tour of their offices which includes a "war room" in case of emergency. Their community centered business approach was also very impressive. Thank you!

State Alumni Convention

2009-03-05T18:49:00.002-06:00

Caitlin, Sydney, Justin, and I had the chance to attend the state alumni association meeting at South Central College in Mankato last weekend. The day started with a keynote by Mr. Rod Hebrink, a former FFA member and state officer from my neck of the woods in Renville. Then attendees had a choice of a few workshops, including Caitlin and mine about growing community support and member involvement. Then we moved into region groups to discuss the current issues and moved into the business meeting. The day concluded with a banquet and awards for outstanding alumni member and outstanding coach. We definitely appreciate all that the alumni do!

FFA Day at the Capitol

2009-02-27T22:21:00.004-06:00

I certainly loved my first ever FFA Day at the Capitol, despite the avalanche of snow. The day started extremely early as we met at the transportation building for doughnuts, juice, and welcomes from various FFA and government supporters. Then, under the direction of Julie Tesch, Sarah Tesmer, and Kevin Paap, we headed to Chairperson Mary Ellen Otremba's office and then on to a discussion with Chairman Al Juhnke. Next we sat in on the House session and were introduced on the floor. After a quick view of the Senate, we ate a bite and then visited the Governor's office and met briefly with his senior political analyst. Later we moved to a panel discussion with some great agricultural supporting legislators. The weather had gotten so bad and only the six of us and the brave members of Southwest Star Concept were left. Our final meeting of the day was with Commissioner Gene Hugoson and Robin Kinney at the Department of Agriculture where we talked about international and domestic agriculture.

Day at the Timberwolves

2009-02-27T22:17:00.003-06:00

We took a few wrong turns on our way to the Target Center but we finally made it in time for FFA Day at the T-Wolves. Thanks to the patience and help of Sheryl Meshke and Paul Hansen and their families, we had a fun pre-game event with some great Champs food, games, and a silent auction in support of the FFA Foundation. We spent some time with members and officers from North Dakota and South Dakota and then headed to the game. The T-Wolves made for an exciting show as they came close to defeating the Los Angeles Lakers but ended just short of a victory. After the game, we went down to the floor for a group picture and then shot a free throw each. It was a great way to start National FFA Week!

CHS

2009-02-27T20:42:00.002-06:00

We spent a day meeting with the some of the staff of star partner CHS. You might recognize them as the naming sponsor of the CHS Miracle of Birth Center. This Minnesota-based cooperative is one of the top grain marketing countries in the world. We heard from representatives from wheat trading, human resources, the CHS foundation, and public relations and topped off the day with a visit from CEO John Johnson. We truly appreciate all of the support they give us all year round!

The tastiest service project

2009-02-27T20:35:00.002-06:00

Since our state goal this year is to achieve twenty thousand service hours, we wanted to get into the act by doing a team service project. Caitlin went to handsontwincities.org and found a really cool project at Perspectives, a home and education program for low income women and children. They have a special project developed by Star Tribune and WCCO food critic Sue Zelickson called Kids' Cafe where five star chefs come and teach kids to cook after school. This was a fundraiser event for the cafe and we were the waitstaff for the donors. We even got to eat the food after we served the guests. It was just more proof that service can be anything, even five star meals!

Leading the Challenge / Hutchinson Chapter Visit

2009-02-27T20:14:00.004-06:00

There's no place like home! That is especially true when home is in Region V. Derek and I took a roundabout trip to LTC by first making a stop in Hutchinson. After having lunch with Ms. Rada, we headed to the high school careers class. We presented a workshop on one of our favorite topics, resume writing. After that, we headed through my hometown(s) to tape my portion of our convention video, I even had time to run into both of my parents at work. From there, we finally made the final trek to Alexandria for LTC.

It was my third Leading the Challenge and Derek's first. We arrived at Arrow Wood and met up with the Region V officers. The theme of the weekend was Ready for the Big Time and the whole place was decorated with sports paraphernalia.

On Saturday, after the first half of sessions, the group split up to either ski or visit the water park. I went with the crew skiing and joined a group where we all overcame our fear of black diamond hills and had a great but very windy time on the slopes. Exhausted and hungry, we headed to the Alexandria High School for tacos in a bag and then went back to the hotel for a GREAT dance. It was really hard to realize it was probably my last FFA dance ever as an officer but I was glad it could be at LTC. Sunday brought more sessions and goodbyes. The conference was adjourned and we started for home. Derek and I had the chance to stop and eat with the Hutchinson members at Leann Chin in St. Cloud... it was still way too early for Chinese food!

Metro Area Alumni and Friends

2009-02-27T20:10:00.002-06:00

Derek, Caitlin, and I had the chance to join the Metro Area Alumni and Friends annual banquet at Axel's on Grand. There were lots of familiar faces around including Leah Addington, Sangeetha Gummadi, Lisa Moorehouse, Tony Seykora, Paul Hansen, and Mark Jirik as well as several new faces to meet. Commissioner of agriculture Gene Hugoson gave the keynote address and joined us for the meal. We always appreciate the help and support of the Metro Area Alumni and Friends!

Team Pictures

2009-02-27T19:58:00.002-06:00

We spent a freezingly cold day in a the very beautiful Sogn Valley at the home of Matt and Leah Addington. Addy works with us regularly as our Leadership Development Coordinator and we have had the chance to get to know Matt as well as Cameron, and most recently, Emmy. Matt teaches and coaches at Kenyon Wannamingo and is also a fantastic photographer and graphic designer. He is the person to thank when it comes to the last several years of camp and state convention logos. Matt even took Derek and my senior pictures last year.

We had a great time taking pictures all day and enjoyed some delicious spaghetti as well.

Check out more of the pictures at http://www.mattaddington.com/proofs/index.php?do=photocart&viewGallery=1070

Winfield Solutions

2009-02-27T19:56:00.002-06:00

Before the trip to China, our state officer day had the chance to spend a day at Winfield Solutions, part of Land O Lakes. We were fortunate enough to hear from Ms. Mary Hinsch who shared with us some information about the newly expanded company brand. We also had the pleasure of working with Ms. Lavyne Rada, Hutchinson FFA Advisor and Agricultural Education Instructor, who worked with us on speech development and introductions.

China- Too much for one blog!

2009-02-27T19:33:00.004-06:00

The task of recapping all of an amazing trip to China has proven to be slightly daunting at the moment. A much more thorough explanation of the trip can be found at http://www.ffa.org/blogs/nationalffa/ Hopefully I will take some time to add more memories to this blog but for now I will retell my most exciting story.

On the day before our departure, we had some time to explore the Yew Garden area of Shanghai. Justin, Caitlin, and I decided to grab a quick bite to eat at McDonalds while someone else decided to quickly grab my purse. Much to my horror, all but $50 of my American and Chinese money, my checkbook, my phone, and most importantly, my passport were all gone. After a terrifying trip to a back alley Chinese police station, everyone kept telling me it would take at least a week to get home. I kept telling them I didn't have a week and I would very much like to go home the next day. Then, after a quick four hour trip to a Chinese government building that included a lot of begging and pleading, I was given Chinese clearance to leave the country. The next morning we woke up extra early and got an emergency passport from the American Consulate and arrived back at our hotel with just enough time to get on the bus and head to the airport. I was finally relieved when we were in the air and on our way home.

Beijing Part1~China's Capital

2009-01-21T11:06:00.004-06:00

We started our time in China with a visit to legendary Tiananmen Square. It was a blustery cold morning as wind filled the square. Today, it is a large paved public square that sits between several government buildings, Mao Ze Dong's Memorial Hall, a WWI and WWII monument, and the Tiananmen which was the imperial gate to the Forbidden City before the revolution in the 1940's. The emperor's private office buildings once stood where most of square is today.

Through the Tiananmen is the Forbidden City which was the palace of Chinese emperors for about six hundred years. The architecture is stunning in red and gold with hand painted ceilings and ornate golden animals to denote the importance of the building.

After some lunch, we changed into official dress for our visit to the American Embassy. Unfortunately we couldn't take any pictures of the brand new complex which is our second largest embassy in the world, only Iraq has a larger one. Inside, we met with a panel of agriculture experts and had a chance to pick their brains about the future of American and Chinese trade. They helped us get a better idea of how the incredibly complex Chinese economy works being both Communist regulated and powered by free trade. The biggest thing I got out of the meeting was the fact that China will continue to need to trade with the US in order to feed to their population since most of their limited resources are better served in manufacturing trade-wise.

Ni Hao! ILSSO 2009

2009-01-21T10:34:00.003-06:00

January 6/7 - 55 of us (5 from Minnesota) departed from San Francisco at 11:05 AM on the sixth en route to Beijing, China. The flight on the huge 747 was over fourteen hours long and, because of the time change, it was already 2:30 PM on the seventh when we arrived in Beijing. We were met at the brand new international terminal (built specially for the Olympics) by our local guides Lin and Lulu. As our buses took us into the city for supper, the enormousness of the city became quickly apparent. There were skyscrapers as far as the eye could see in every direction. We had an authentic supper complete with chopsticks (which were definitely a struggle at first!). We quickly learned this type of meal would be very common while we were in China. Many different types of dishes including chicken, beef, pork, vegetables, fish, soup, and rice were placed on a large rotating glass disk in the center of the table along with hot tea and coke and sprite. There's no need to pass anything, you simply spin what you want to you!The food itself is very different from American Chinese food. We enjoy flavors from the Cantonese part of China at home, but we were on the other side of the country for our trip. Here, they use a lot more seaweed and hot seasoning (even though the served us mild dishes) and the texture of everything is much much different than a home. After our meal, we headed back to the hotel and fell asleep very early, only to wake up around 4AM due to the fourteen hour time difference. It may be the only time I willingly got up that early.

San Francisco

2009-01-05T23:00:00.005-06:00

Caitlin, Justin, Pete, Cindy, and I arrived safely in San Francisco yesterday on the way to China for the International Leadership Seminar for State Officers. We will be spending 9 days in the people's republic but first we have a few days of orientation here. I was very excited since this is my second favorite city. We spent the afternoon sightseeing with an impressive up hill (and down hill) walk from Union Square to Fisherman's warf. I think the rest of our group thought I was completely lost but I swore I knew where we were... which was true, after a little bit of exploring. After the several mile hike, Justin was finally able to see the Golden Gate Bridge just as the sun set. We caught some supper at the pier before taking the bay area rapid transit back to our hotel. We spent today getting to know the other 45 participants and 5 chaperons while picking up some traveling tips and learning about China. Tomorrow will be an early morning as we say goodbye to the city by the bay and head to Beijing. The flight departs at 11 AM Tuesday and arrives at 3 PM Wednesday due to the serious time difference. Pictures and more information to come where internet is available!

Winter Board Meeting/Region II Service Day

2008-12-19T17:14:00.003-06:00

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

2008-12-19T17:05:00.003-06:00

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

2008-12-19T16:58:00.002-06:00

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

2008-12-19T16:50:00.002-06:00

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

2008-12-19T16:22:00.004-06:00

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

2008-12-19T16:14:00.002-06:00

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...

2008-11-12T14:10:00.004-06:00

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

2008-11-12T14:06:00.002-06:00

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!!

2008-10-28T17:19:00.009-05:00

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

2008-09-17T21:11:00.005-05:00

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

2008-09-17T21:11:00.002-05:00

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

2008-09-10T14:37:00.002-05:00

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

2008-09-10T14:09:00.004-05:00

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

2008-08-06T22:05:00.003-05:00

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

2008-08-03T20:48:00.007-05:00

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

2008-08-03T20:21:00.004-05:00

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

2008-07-19T21:44:00.009-05:00

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

2008-06-30T15:24:00.006-05:00

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

2008-06-28T19:10:00.007-05:00

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

2008-06-22T23:25:00.003-05:00

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

2008-06-22T00:24:00.004-05:00

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

2008-06-21T01:01:00.001-05:00

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

2008-06-13T09:58:00.002-05:00

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

2008-06-08T19:47:00.001-05:00

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!!

2008-06-06T10:19:00.000-05:00

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

2008-05-21T21:50:00.000-05:00

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...

2008-05-15T22:21:00.000-05:00

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

2008-05-12T22:04:00.001-05:00

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!

2008-05-11T17:24:00.000-05:00

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