FFA and FFA Alumni Changing Lives, Shout Out from a Proud Parent

Barbara Antecio – Rociada, NM
I am an FFA mom who is now a grandmother. All 3 of my sons Will, Aaron and Matt were in FFA at Robertson High School in Las Vegas New Mexico. After our sons graduated and left home they all married lovely country girls, 2 of which were also in FFA. One of the daughters is still active in coaching the forestry team.

My husband and I wanted to continue to support FFA so in 1997 we organized the “The Rociada Buyers Club” in order to purchase animals at our local county fair sale. Any animal we purchase is then donated to the Robertson FFA who then in turn have the meat processed and raffled off as a fund raiser. That money is then used for their trip to Nationals.

In June of 2010 our 100 year old barn was restored to better condition than it had been in all its existence! Thanks to the National FFA Alumni, three FFA chapters from Michigan, Wisconsin and New Mexico along with Campbell’s Soup Company and Valspar Paint Company, who made it all possible. I entered our Upper Peninsula of Michigan barn in a contest sponsored by Campbell’s Soup and FFA Alumni and the ten final barns were placed on line to be voted on by the whole world. Five were chosen to be renovated and ours was one of the five! Five FFA students from New Mexico, along with students from Michigan and Wisconsin along with family and friends all traveled to Bark River, Michigan to help restore our beloved barn. And you should see it now! I can’t thank FFA enough for making a life long dream of preserving our barn come true. I think you can still see the restored barns on www.helpgrowyoursoup.com or on the FFA Alumni Facebook page.
THANK YOU FFA !!!!

Steve Olson, Candidate for FFA Alumni President Talks Advocacy

National FFA Alumni Priority #2: Become leaders in advocacy for ag education and FFA
A few months ago while waiting for my son, I started talking with another dad. The conversation led to our jobs. As is often the case, he was not familiar with the work of farm organizations or trade associations. I explained to him that I promote poultry farming to consumers, coordinate research, and lobby on behalf of Minnesota’s poultry farmers, processors and the associated suppliers. His comment was, “Oh, so you’re a politician!” Not surprisingly, that is a common reaction. I realized shortly after I started working in public policy that every person and every career has a “special interest” group advocating on its behalf. There is even an association for associations!

Last month I talked about the first of the alumni’s priorities – an affiliate for every chapter. The second priority is for the FFA Alumni to become leaders in advocacy for ag education and FFA. FFA Alumni are community members and in the best position to advocate at the local, state and national level. Advocacy is as easy as two steps: first, develop a relationship with your educational policy makers (curriculum director, administrators, and school board members) as well as state and federal elected officials; second, tell your story of why, and how, you support agricultural education and the FFA.

Develop a relationship, preferably before a budget crisis, with key people. Identify topics where you share values such as interest in helping students succeed and strengthening curriculum. This establishes you as an interested and credible resource. In a crisis, bring solutions, not just complaints. Elected officials value input from a trusted source to help them understand the issues and make informed decisions. Be upfront with the positive and negative sides of your solution. This prepares them to handle questions from opposing views.

In the opening paragraph I mentioned that everyone is represented by a “special interest” group. However, the most effective method to convey a message is by “telling your story” directly. Relating your personal experience as a supporter of ag education and FFA can have the greatest influence on decision makers.

The FFA Alumni continues to grow as an organization. To strengthen and expand FFA and ag education, FFA Alumni need to become the leader in advocating at the local, state, and national level. I have the experience and skills to assist the National FFA Alumni Association in becoming that leader and providing guidance and advocacy support for local and state affiliates. I ask for your support by voting for me at that National FFA Alumni annual meeting on Friday Oct 21 at 9:00 am in the Indianapolis Convention Center. Please contact me with any questions: steve@minnesotaturkey.com.

Thank you and I appreciate your support
Steve Olson

Anita Schneider, Candidate for National FFA Alumni President has Strength and Passion for FFA

Three years ago when I was running for the National FFA Alumni Council I used puzzle pieces as my campaign gimmick. Just like each piece of a puzzle is unique–as are each of us, we all have many facets, we all have special talents and we all fit somewhere. Each piece has a vital role in helping achieve the finished product, for without all the pieces you will never see the big picture, so you have to keep searching and looking for the pieces that fit. I believe this to be true and I keep searching for those talents.

I believe that I have brought pieces of myself to the picture of the National Council. Some of the things I bring would be motivation, willingness, organizational skills, ideas, passion, doing what needs to be done, communication skills, participation, and love for the organization and for what it stands for. I may not be the first to make a decision but I always put a lot of thought into my decisions, willingness to listen to both sides and try to make the decision that would best benefit the group as a whole. I believe that having the ability to communicate with people from all walks of life is important when it comes to advocacy which is one of the main goals of the National FFA Alumni Association. I do believe in the future of agriculture with a faith born not of words but of deeds, and doing what needs to be done to get the job completed in an organized and timely manner is a skill that I feel I do possess.

I have been a supporter of the FFA organization for the better part of my life and understand the importance of the agricultural field and how it must continue to grow. A main strategic goal of the Alumni is to have an active Alumni affiliate for each FFA Chapter and I have helped to organize FFA Alumni affiliates to help the organization grow and continue to work for the betterment of FFA and agricultural education.

Thank you and I appreciate your support,
Anita Schneider

Presidential Candidate Anita Schneider Putting her Passion for FFA and Ag Education into Action!

I believe in the future of agriculture with the faith born not of words but of deeds. FFA just isn’t about farmers anymore; educating our young people about agriculture is very important because they are our future leaders. These young people will have to be the ones who will feed and clothe the ever growing population. As our society learns to prolong life, the agricultural world will have to learn new methods of sustaining these lives. They need to be aware of the number of opportunities that agriculture offers to them. But education of these young people is just a part of my advocacy for agriculture.

Farmers and agriculture are essential in our food system, without farmers we would all starve. There are very few foods produced on farms that are immediately edible. Food processing is required to turn farm produce into food to feed our families. We rarely stop and think about how many people it takes to make meals appear on tables. One can see how many lives agriculture affects. We need to educate the urban world as to where their food, clothes, homes and even the paper they write on comes from. What I do know is that there are stereotypes that exist about both groups that sometimes keep us from reaching out and finding true understanding. Almost all food processing in the developed world is done at an industrial scale. The supermarkets where we buy most of our food, purchases their supplies directly or indirectly from other companies, these companies buy their ingredients from other companies and so on until someone pays the farmer for the produce to feed the cycle. If we could take every part of agriculture out of a person’s life what would be left—if you think about it – not much.

We also need to keep the leaders of our country educated about how much it takes to produce these agricultural items and encourage them to keep providing funding for the education of agriculture, as well as, the farm programs to the farmers who provide these products. Every person is touched by agriculture in everything they live in, clothes they wear, paper they write on and even the milk they pour on their whole grain cereal in the morning. We also need to keep in mind the number of jobs that the agricultural world provides. After all, where would this world be without agriculture?

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me – schneid2@ruraltel.net
Thank you and I appreciate your support,
Anita Schneider

Presidential Candidate Steve Olson, Every FFA Chapter needs a FFA Alumni Affiliate

In 2010, the National FFA Alumni established two priorities for our role in supporting FFA and Ag Education: the first is for every FFA to have an active FFA Alumni affiliate; the second is becoming the leader in advocacy for FFA and Ag Education. This blog will focus on my thoughts for the first priority with the second priority being discussed in an October blog.

A key to the long term success of local ag education programs is community support. The support is built upon meeting the needs of students and the community in the short-term. The best way for ag education to compete for support and resources during tight budgets is to provide a high quality program that meets national curriculum standards. A high quality program provides students with classroom instruction, AND experiential learning (through Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE)), AND leadership development (FFA). A major strength of agricultural education is applying lessons learned in the classroom to practical situations this enables students to learn on a deeper level.

Personally I believe that every school should have an ag education program. The first step is to strengthen the community support of existing programs. FFA Alumni is in a unique position to reinforce the ag education network by identifying and working with community leaders in neighboring ag ed programs to form alumni affiliates. The role of the National FFA Alumni organization is to provide training and resources to assist local affiliates in working with neighboring programs. State alumni associations are key to working with state ag education and FFA staff to identify programs that may have a more urgent need to build community support. A second phase is for local and state FFA Alumni to look at establishing ag education programs in schools where none currently exist.

Take Home Message:
1. Work with ag educator(s) in a neighboring community to identify a core group (3-10) of supporters to initiate the formation of an alumni affiliate.
2. Access material and resources from state and national FFA Alumni to assist in forming a new affiliate.
3. Serve as mentor for the new affiliate.
4. Establishing new agricultural education programs – Develop a list of neighboring schools and potential supporters (ag/commodity group members, business owners, community leaders etc).

Please contact me with any questions or comments (steve@minnesotaturkey.com)
Thank you and I appreciate your support,
Steve Olson

Andrea Stevenson, Florida’s Candidate for Nat’l FFA Alumni Council Members-at-Large

Andrea Stevenson of Christmas, Florida is running for the National FFA Alumni Council. Get to know Andrea before casting your vote at the National FFA Alumni convention this October in Indianapolis, Ind.

Why do you want to be a member of the National FFA Alumni Council? I love the passion that Alumni members have for the FFA and helping kids in general. They are the “Poster Child” for volunteerism. FFA and Ag Ed becomes a part of us in such a way that we live it everyday. It would be an honor to have the opportunity to serve with such caring individuals that are determined to achieve the Alumni’s goals, like myself.

Why are you so passionate about FFA and Ag Education? I have seen how both aspects can affect a child’s life in a postive manner and shape their future. As a former member, the impact that FFA/Ag Ed and my Advisors had upon me was tremendous. I am confident that they helped make me the person I am today.
Agriculture is the foundation of the world. As a society, we need to continously provide leaders that can represent the industry intelligently while being diversified. The FFA, Alumni and Ag Ed have the opportunity to do just that.

What can you bring to the council? Lots of enthusiasm, experience, pride and dedication to anything I am involved with.

Tell us your favorite:
– National FFA Alumni Convention or Alumni Development Conference Moment: 2009 Colorado ADC during the Jeep Ride in the San Juan Mtns. It was a bumpy ride and all of us passengers got a little closer than we wanted to. But it made us laugh so hard and get to know each other a little better.

– Food: Beef and anything Southern Fried!
– Movie: Gone With the Wind and Lonesome Dove
– Song: “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd and “Respect” by Aretha Franklin

I would appreciate your support.
Andrea Stevenson

Patrick Hackley is running for the Nat’l FFA Alumni Council Member-at-Large Position

Patrick Hackley is running for the National FFA Alumni Council. Get to know Patrick before casting your vote at the National FFA Alumni convention this October in Indianapolis, Ind.

Why do you want to be a member of the National FFA Alumni Council?
I am striving to become a member of the National FFA Alumni Council for several reasons. The most significant reason being my passion for the agriculture industry and its upcoming development. I believe strongly in FFA alumni’s stake in the future of the agriculture and agricultural education and feel that we, the FFA alumni team, can grow successfully together with other organizations to diversely cultivate agriculture.

Why are you so passionate about FFA and Ag Education?
FFA and Ag Education are two entities that positively affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, students and supporters each and every day. The experiences that these organizations provide are those that will remain with that person throughout their entire FFA career, alumni career and personal life. I feel that as an alumni our goal, whether it’s written down or not, should be to constantly advocate and educate the general public on the importance of agriculture, agriculture education and FFA. If we strive to do this, our country, our communities and our children will all be accustomed to a very healthy, fair and prosperous way of life centered around faith, family and freedom.

What can you bring to the council?
The National FFA Alumni Council is a group of fun, diverse individuals who share a passion for all of agriculture. As a member of this team, I feel that I can bring energy, enthusiasm and ethics to help keep the diversity of personalities, values and skills in the organization. My extensive, lifelong dedication to agriculture and FFA will also shine through in my ability to help other affiliates, colleagues and friends strive to build their alumni into a strong advocacy group for the industry and its supporting societies.

Favorites
National FFA Alumni Convention or Alumni Development Conference moment:
To state a favorite moment from either of these events is simply difficult to do. My favorite moment is meeting new and exciting individuals for the first time and developing these relationships into lifelong friendships at these events. I am simply amazed every time I attend these conferences at how many good hearted people there are involved with our organization.

Food: Steak and Taters – I’m a Montana farm boy!

Movie: McClintock – John Wayne as GW – “Curly, don’t say it’s a fine morning or I’ll shoot ya!”

Song; “I Use What I Got” by Jason Aldean

I would appreciate your support.
Patrick Hackley

Meet Richard Daniel, Candidate for National FFA Alumni Council Member-at-Large

Richard Daniel is running for the National FFA Alumni Council. Get to know Richard a little more before casting your vote at the National FFA Alumni convention this October in Indianapolis, Ind.

Why do you want to be a member of the National FFA Alumni Council?
I want to do all I can to make sure National Alumni reaches its goal of having an FFA alumni affiliate for every FFA chapter nationwide. I really believe achieving this goal will most directly impact the greatest number of FFA members. I also want to create a fun and enjoyable environment for the FFA Alumni to ensure we retain our current members and draw in new ones, young and old! For me personally, I want to continue to expand my connection with the outstanding people involved with Alumni.

Why are you so passionate about FFA and Ag Education?
FFA has made me the person, father, husband and leader that I am today. My own FFA experience gave me the work ethic and confidence to provide for my family, build my lawn maintenance business and take on my community leadership roles. I see this same positive impact on FFA members over and over again. Whether a student is shy or already very outgoing there is a place for them in an Ag program. What’s made me the most passionate though, has been how FFA has benefited my own children. Each of my three girls has been extremely successful in college and in their own community endeavors, in a big part, because of the leadership and life skills they gained in the FFA. I am so proud of them and want to make sure our FFA programs will be available for the next generation.

What can you bring to the Council?
I will bring a down-to-earth, common sense approach to the Council with my local alumni experiences: helping start our local affiliate, stepping up as president, recruiting new members, helping neighboring affiliates get started, cooking for FFA events and fundraisers, raffling items at the Farm Show and fair, helping students prepare for contests, chaperoning, building relationships with local business like Tractor Supply, and so on. I personally know what it takes to make a local alumni work well, and I have learned what creates challenges. I will bring my practical knowledge to the National Council and offer ideas on what the Council can do to help state and local affiliates successfully meet their own goals. From my perspective, the number one job of the National Council is to provide guidance and resources for state and local affiliates so they can help their own Ag Ed programs and FFA members.

Tell us your favorite:
National FFA Alumni Convention or Alumni Development Conference Moments:
– Being a part of the emotional moment when Ronnie Ansley, Sam Atherton, Monte Ladner & Greg Gosen placed the National FFA Alumni wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington D.C. 2008
– Hanging over the edge of a cliff in Ouray, Colorado while on a Jeep ride in 2009. (This stirred up a much different reaction!)
Food: Anything fried, grilled, barbequed, steamed, baked, boiled; carrot cake, pecan pie… Oh who am I kidding I love all food!!!!!
Movie: “The Blind Side” and old westerns with John Wayne or Clint Eastwood.
Song: “Black Water” by the Doobie Brother because I know all of the words!

I would appreciate your support.
Richard Daniel

Jamison Cruce, Nat’l FFA Alumni Member-at-Large Candidate

Jamison Cruce is running for the National FFA Alumni Council. Get to know Jamison a little more before casting your vote at the National FFA Alumni convention this October in Indianapolis, Ind.

Why do you want to be a member of the National FFA Alumni Council?
Being a former FFA member and a member of the Georgia FFA Alumni Council, I have been extremely involved and I know how much I gained and learned. I want to share what I have learned and previous experiences to ensure that the National FFA Alumni Association continues to progress and grow.

Why are you so passionate about FFA and Ag Education?
Agriculture has always had a part in my life. Upon entering high school, the first class that I wanted to sign up for was agricultural education. I have gained more from FFA and the FFA Alumni about leadership and communication skills than any other organization or class. I am currently studying agricultural education at the University of Georgia and plan on teaching within the next two years.

What can you bring to the council?
I can bring a younger approach to the council. Still technically being both an FFA and an FFA Alumni member, I will be able to provide insight as to the current states of both entities, and most importantly, what members want and need.

Tell us your favorite:
– National FFA Alumni Convention Moment: Picking up the Local Program Support Grant for my alumni affiliate as an FFA member
– Food: Zaxby’s chicken
– Movie: Smokey and the Bandit
– Song: “Good To Be Me” Uncle Kracker

I would appreciate your support.
Jamison Cruce

Dr. Larry Case, Nat’l FFA Alumni Council Member-at-Large Candidate

Dr. Larry D. Case is running for the National FFA Alumni Council. Get to know Larry a little more before casting your vote at the National FFA Alumni convention this October in Indianapolis, Ind.

Why do I want to be a member of the National FFA Alumni Council?
I suppose that is for the big pay check you get every 2 weeks!!! As the kids would say “NOT”! Now to be a little more serious, Agricultural, Food and Natural Resources education is a very successful program. However, there is always room for improvement. I believe that the National FFA Alumni Council can and will provide the needed leadership to empower legions of volunteers across this great Nation to help local teachers to be even more successful. As a National FFA Alumni Council member I would lend my experience, thoughts and ideas to achieve the promise of agricultural education/FFA.

Why am I so passionate about FFA and Ag Education?
I believe Agricultural Education/FFA makes a positive difference in the lives of students. I believe the Agricultural Education/FFA program is the most effective instructional program in the school and addresses many of the educational issues such as student engagement. I have seen agricultural educators work with highly motivated students as well as some who were not so motivated. The likelihood for student success is high in the agricultural education programs because teachers are able to use many tools (one important one is the use of FFA Alumni volunteers) to address learning styles, interests and needs to engage the students in learning. The FFA is an important component in the process. It provides recognition for worthy achievement as well providing incentives for achieving more than the student ever thought possible. How could one not be passionate about a program that has done so much for so many young people?

What can I bring to the Council?
I would bring nearly 45 years of proven leadership and experience in agricultural education along with recent experience of working as an active member of the local Spotsylvania FFA Alumni Chapter. I started my career in January 1966 as a local agricultural education teacher and moved into local school administration. I was recruited to the Missouri State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education where I became the State Director of Agricultural Education/FFA Advisor. In 1984, I was appointed to the US Department of Education as a Senior Program Specialist-Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Education and National FFA Advisor /Chairman of the FFA Board of Directors/CEO. I retired on December 31, 2010. I have experience in how leadership groups work effectively and a passion for helping students and the agricultural education profession to be successful.

My Favorites—

National FFA Convention–the 83th Convention. It was my last convention as the National FFA Advisor. I had a great time and I only messed up 1 time in the opening ceremony!

National FFA Alumni development conference–I do not remember the year but it was the boat ride in Oregon where not one boat rider came out dry! What a blast!

Movie—Blind Side

I would appreciate your support.
Dr. Larry D. Case