FFA Day With The Minnesota Twins: A Day of Firsts!

When the blue skies of July 18th rolled around, I knew that we were in for a big day. Twins vs. White Sox, Target Field, and FFA members- you couldn't ask for a better combination! With this combination, there were also many firsts:

• The first time FFA Day with the Twins was held at Target Field
• The first time we tried the new "Dugout Dog" instead of the "Dome Dog"
• The first time we adventured down a "Buses Only" road (with permission of course)
• The first time meeting state officers from North Dakota, who came just for the Twins game
  
• The first time I had ever in person seen such a great game!

With each of these firsts, we also had the opportunity to visit with many members from across the state that we hadn't seen since State Convention or even the two days since SLCCL and two weeks since SGLC. We also met many former members from places such as Colorado, California, and of course, Minnesota.Members from across the state!
From left: Emily, Sarah, Nathan, Liz, Erin, Ed, Brad, Justin, Eric, and Jeff

FFA members such as Jade Kampsen (who was also at SLCCL!) threw out the first pitch, with a member from Nicollet singing the National Anthem. All five members involved in this did a great job, even throwing some strikes! During the 7th inning stretch, about fifteen more members sang "Take Me Out To The Ballgame," and some even had peanuts and crackerjack to go with it!

Oh, and I had better mention that we watched some baseball too. It was a great game, with the Twins down 3 to 6 going into the bottom of the 9th. They scored four runs with 0 outs to finish the game victorious, 7 to 6!

We had a blast at FFA Day with the Minnesota Twins, and hope to see you there next year!

Stationed by the ear of corn,
Erin Daninger

SLCCL 2010 - GET ANIMATED.

*****************************************************

WHAT A WEEK.
FFA members from across the state gathered together at
Deep Portage in Hackensack to
GET ANIMATED
during a week of premier leadership, personal growth, and career success
at the 2010 State Leadership Conference for Chapter Leaders.

MONDAY.
FFA members began to arrive around 10 AM on Monday morning and all were assembled by 12:30 PM (ahem, Region VIII bus :)).

HIGHLIGHTS...

• Getting to know small group members through "Me-In-A-Box" and playing the first rounds of an AWESOME volleyball tournament
• Singing various cartoon theme songs
• Learning a proper handshake
• Taking the tower hike and viewing beautiful Deep Portage reserve from 100+ feet!
• Cabin chatting.

TUESDAY.
All about personal growth. On Tuesday, chapter leaders discussed how to use their personal leadership styles to best work with our teams, manage our time, create a personal mission statement, and various opportunities available to us as individuals through FFA.
HIGHLIGHTS...

• Canoeing and hitting the rock wall for the first time during rec
• Power walking during TEAM CHALLENGES to prevent a 3 minute time delay for running
• Watching the State Officer's version of "California Gurls", complete with plungers!
  
• Winning some cash during the "Farming is Risky Business" break out session sponsored by the USDA
  
• Reflecting on our first full day.

WEDNESDAY.
What makes a chapter good? This was the topic of discussion Wednesday as FFA members explored a career in Agricultural Education, learned stages of team development, and talked about ways to support our chapters through partnership.

HIGHLIGHTS...

• Watching the "Morning News" and finding out we could take ninja lessons from our favorite Ninja Turtles
  
• Meeting Ms. Seibert, a former State Officer, who is just beginning her career in Agricultural Education as the new teacher at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School
• Teaching each other the five stages of team development through hilarious skits
• Being surprised by Katie Zenk, the Minnesota National Officer Candidate, who spent two days of camp with us
• Learning the Watermelon Crawl, watching the girls totally dominate the boys in watermelon eating contest, and chowing down on a favorite fruit.

THURSDAY.
"Living to serve", a key phrase in the FFA motto, was brought to life Thursday as we began to explore how we could impact our world through service.

HIGHLIGHTS...

• Laying woodchips, painting picnic tables, controlling invasive species, staining decks, and cleaning up hiking trails during EPIC service projects with Deep Portage staff
• WHAT ABOUT NOW?
• Spending time with our chapters making plans for the coming year
• Watching side-splittingly funny banquet skits, amazing talent acts, and "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"
• A final evening with our new friends, laughing about the week and hearing great stories

FRIDAY.
Looking back, the week seemed to have flown by for all of us. After some evaluating and letter writing, FFA members loaded vans, buses, and cars to head home. Going home with lots of new knowledge and even more friends, SLCCL 2010 was definitely a success.

On behalf of the entire State Officer Team, I would like to thank you ALL for making this camp such a great experience. FFA members, you kept us on our toes and laughing all week; we most certainly had a blast and we hope you did, too!


Keep enjoying the sunshine and time with your chapters this summer. Stay in touch - we would love to hear what you are up to!


Stationed by the plow,
LIZ

State Greenhand Leadership Conference

Early on the morning of June 27th, 13 of us woke up to make the trek to Hackensack for SGLC (State Greenhand Leadership Conference). Some of us had an interesting trip up with NEAR accidents, adventures to fix a watch, and several people even had a conversation with the police. Sunday was spent putting up decorations and preparing for the arrival of nearly 130 Greenhand members. Decorations included a giant milk cartoon and cereal box to fit the theme of "FFA: The Experience of Champions."


Day 1 (Starting Your Day Right)

On Monday morning, members began to arrive and Deep Portage was rustling with excitement by noon. That afternoon we had a welcome with a skit from from the Region Presidents in which each of them dressed up as a character from a cereal box and Jason taught us about expectations/rules with a catchy song. "patty cake patty cake baker's man, lets make the week the best we can, pat it with respect, knead with E, conserve greatly, model it in, part-i-ci-pate, energy filled, keep this in mind for you and me" After the Deep Portage staff talked to us about their expectations, we started our first recreation time which occur every afternoon and evening while at camp. During recreation time we all have the opportunity to play in the volleyball tournament, climb the rock wall, go canoeing, go swimming, play basketball, or just walk around with friends. Rec time always goes by really fast and then it was time for flag lowering every night before supper. We had a session that included a technique of how to meet new people and some of the benefits/drawbacks of the meeting new people. The members had a chance to try out these new skills and meet some of their fellow campers by sharing their me-in-a-boxes (members bring several items that represent them in a box). After another rec time we had reflections from Hillary, Jared, Greg, and Liz. Their speeches covered how to start each day on the right note, staying positive, and making a conscious choice to make the best of every experience. Then we end every night with cabin chats. The first night we just went through our me-in-a-boxes with our rooms.

Day 2 (Choosing my Favorite Cereal- Personal Growth)

We started the second day with a flag raising ceremony just as we do every day. During breakfast a news crew came in every day to share the weather and sports in an entertaining fashion. After breakfast, there was a manners and etiquette session that covered items like how to fold your FFA jacket, proper OD, manners at the dinner table, and other general etiquette. Before lunch we had six different breakout sessions that covered FFA basics that the members went to. After lunch they chose two of the four breakout sessions on personal growth. During rec time the volleyball tournament began to heat up as we were entering the second round of the bracket. After flag lowering and another delicious meal provided by Deep Portage we had an awesome session of goal setting. The students had an opportunity to make some of their own goals after learning about SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely). Reflections were by Jason, Maddie, and Eric. They spoke about how person growth works, finding a personal mission and following it, and to use mistakes as opportunities. During cabin chats the officers got to switch rooms and learn some new faces.

Day 3 (The Right Ingredients- Career Success)
By the third day we could see all the members opening up and they were getting comfortable with all their new friends at camp. Morning festivities continued as usual before we got to the first session of SAE's. The members all filled out a project plans to start an SAE or what how they will be advancing one they already started. In the next session, the members took a look at agricultural education and what a total program is. Also, they wrote thank you notes to their ag teachers for all the work they have put in. That afternoon we had elections for the banquet committee. Around 40 members signed up to run for fifteen positions which was exciting to see. That night members chose to of the eight CDE breakout sessions to attend. During recreation we had watermelon feed and yet again the guy officers won the eating contest! Reflections were by me (Justin), Kirsten, Brittany, and Sabrina, who could not attend because of a band trip to Europe but she sent along a DVD to play. They were about learning from mistakes and being authentic. During cabin chats the guy and girl officers switched rooms to add an interesting twist.
Day 4 (Add a Little Sugar- Premier Leadership)
The first session of the day covered leadership. We worked on defining leadership and how each of us can be leaders. In addition, we broke into small groups and talked about mentors. Next we covered service learning including ways we can serve, who we serve, and barriers to be aware of when serving others. After lunch we had a friendly competition between all of the small groups that each of the officers lead throughout the weeks. It was a team scavenger hunt that consisted of clues leading to new team activities. It was the start of a big day! That night we had the banquet, talent show, and dance. Some highlights of the banquet included the two skits by the banquet committee, a speech by Amber Siebert, and the creed performed by Mallory Pagel. Scott Vogel won the talent show with his performance in which he played his Conciertina. That night Erin, Kelsey, Jeff had reflections. They challenged the members to make the extra effort each day to make a difference and to earn others' respect by being a positive leader.

Day 5 (The Prize in the Box)

The last day came so fast and it is always tough to leave. Every member writes a letter to themselves that will sent to them in half a year. They also filled out evaluations of the camp. Then the campers make a circle for the officers to come around and say their goodbyes. After the adjournment, the campers head home and we were soon to follow. On behalf of all the officers, I would like to thank everyone who came to SGLC for making it an amazing week with a ton of memories. I hope you all are having an amazing time after camp and implement what you learned.
SLCCL in two days, I hope everyone coming is as excited as I am.

Stationed by the door,
Justin Crowley

NLCSO in the great state of Iowa!

June 22 found us traveling down to Ankeny, Iowa, for the National Leadership Conference for State Officers. While en route, Jason, Justin, and I found out that Iowa has a state tree (corn), road construction has a very exact process, and that Mr. Ertl worries if people will spill and especially does not like using roundabouts properly. Other than learning more about our Executive Secretary, we also gained many skills and pieces of knowledge that we were excited to put into practice at Greenhand Camp.

Upon arrival, we met state officers from South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska. Soon after, we had the opportunity to begin getting to know Levy Randolph and Chase Rose, the National President and National Central Region Vice President. Levy and Chase ran the four day conference for the 34 state officers that were excited to learn more about how we could make a difference throughout our year of service. The very first day also had one more surprise; we met the famed National FFA Advisor, Dr. Case. Believe it or not, that smile that you see in pictures and at National Convention is only the surface of a man who has spent 26 years stationed by the owl.
Along with meeting many people we also spent the week learning about how we work as a team, not just a group as individuals. We covered how to create synergy, the stages of team development and what may be potential barriers to being a team, planning workshops, trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and facilitation. To end our time at NLCSO, we held a banquet to celebrate all we had learned throughout the week. Since we needed a little time to unwind, we spent the night in an Iowa movie theater, surrounded by corn, taking in the thoughts of 18 year old Andy's toys and their struggles to begin a new life. That's right- We watched Toy Story 3, and highly suggest it to anyone looking to apply lessons on leadership in a little different way.


When Friday came, we were all disappointed to have to say goodbye so soon, but extremely excited to put what we had just learned into action. We finished putting final details on planning for State Greenhand Leadership Conference and began looking forward to welcoming campers. We are excited to meet each one of you!

Stationed by the ear of corn,
Erin Daninger
MN FFA State Secretary

Being an Advocate

The Minnesota FFA Officer Team joined 35 other young leaders from across the state on June 14th-16th in Mankato, MN for the Minnesota Agriculture Ambassador Institute.

Monday
Our journey began with a hearty breakfast at a local Perkins with a couple of teammates. After finishing our eggs, bacon, and orange juice we met up at the conference center where we were greeted by Jason Welter, the 2010 Minnesota Pork Ambassador, and Amber Skluzacek, second runner up Pork Ambassador. The conference kicked off with a short introduction from Robin Kinney, who serves as the Assistant Commissioner in the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Trudy Wastweet of Minnesota Pork Producers Association, Tara Meyer the Executive Director with the Minnesota Farm and Food Coalition and Robin Kinney organized the conference. Each are strong voices and help advocate the values and experiences in agriculture. After introductions and personal stories where told, Amanda Nolz gave a short presentation. Amanda is the editor for Beef Magazine (http://beefmagazine.com/) and a fifth-generation rancher from South Dakota. She spoke on how to respond to negative press toward the industry and shared personal struggles and successes. Later in the day, Amanda also presented on the use of social media tools to reach the consumer and help them understand the agriculture story. Following a lunch with a taco bar we examined the philosophy "FISH! Catch the Energy-Release the Potential" with Dan Durheim from American Farm Bureau. The idea is based off of the Seattle Fish Market and if the "FISH!" philosophy is followed can allow you to have fun at work, make someone's day, live in the moment, and choose a positive attitude. This gave us a fresh look at each day! Wrapping up our day we went bowling and had a pizza social!

Tuesday
Bright and early we loaded up three large vans and headed out to the land. Our first stop was Christensen Farms in Sleepy Eye, MN. (http://www.christensenfarms.com/) Rod Hamilton head of communications and Minnesota Representative for District 22B welcomed us to the site. Rod shared the background of the 25 year old company and its rapid growth. He also specifically spoke on current issues in law and the market affecting the pork industry. During our time at Christensen Farms we also received a thorough tour of the feed mill. The next tour was just outside of Sleepy Eye, at Port Haven Dairy. Our hosts were Tom and Mary Portner, who proudly showed us their unique dairy barns, the milking parlor, and Brown Swiss herd. Upon saying our goodbyes to the farm we headed back to town to have lunch at a local park. Brad Finstad, past Representative and Executive Director of Center for Rural Policy and Development, joined us for lunch and spoke about his experiences within politics and the need to look at changes in government through a rural lens. We reloaded the vans and traveled to Balzer Inc. (http://www.balzerinc.com/). We were provided the opportunity to tour their plant with Randy McMahon President of the company. Balzer manufactures shredders, grain carts, and manure equipment which is sold in the US and eight other countries around the world. The final event for the day was an etiquette dinner presented by Dan Durheim. We are now more prepared at how to properly eat a five course meal. In addition, Gene Hugoson, the Agriculture Commissioner, spoke to the group about his current possition, the upcoming issues, and answered questions about how he reached the point he is at. His inside insight was intriguing.

Wednesday
Our final meal together was breakfast at Famous Dave's in Mankato. An interesting place for breakfast, but very good even though it was not ribs! The morning consisted of a forum with Brad Finstad, David Preisler, Executive Director of the Pork Board, and Randy Wanke, Executive Director of Pioneer Hi-Bred, who spoke on issues facing agriculture and how we as advocates could handle these pressing issues. With this information and information from the past two days we wrote out an Advocacy Action Plan. The conference finished on an exciting note as we invited Farm Boy Brand Clothing to attend the event. We participated in a survey and brainstorm session for new design ideas.

The three day Minnesota Agricultural Ambassador Institute Conference filled each participant with knowledge not only from activities and reading, but also from tours out in the field of agriculture. This conference helped to prepare young leaders to go out into the world and have the drive and desire to advocate for our great industry!

Stationed by the Rising Sun,

Jason Troendle

Two scoops of team bonding.

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Well, ladies and gentleman, the Minnesota FFA Officer Team was reunited Monday and Tuesday to prepare for one rockin' summer!

MONDAY...
the Constitutional Officers arrived in Shakopee, at the Minnesota Corn Growers, for our first SOPD (State Officer Professional Development). Bright and early, we had the awesome opportunity to work with Sheryl Meshke as we began to develop our key messages and theme for the year. Sheryl works for AMPI as the Vice President of Public Affairs. She tells the AMPI story and advocates for the dairy farmers who are members of their organization.
After lunch, we headed to AgriBank in St. Paul to talk with Becca Yaklich about the importance of social media in our industry today. How many of us use email, Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube on a daily basis? I personally don't know how I'd get through the day without checking my Blackberry! All of these are forms of social media, but how can we use them to our advantage? Becca pointed out that all of these are great tools to share our messages about agriculture, ag education, and FFA in the next year. I think Becca's job is pretty cool - she gets to use Facebook all day long!
The team began to congregate at full force that evening (minus Erin, who had to head home for a banquet because she STILL had school!), picking up a few Region Presidents at Buffalo Wild Wings and then heading over to Feed My Starving Children for an AWESOME night of service. Feed My Starving Children is an organization that provides meals to hungry kids all across the globe. We helped assemble meals that arrive in a prepackaged bag containing a chicken substitute, vegetables, soy, and white rice. Don't knock it until you try it! The fourteen MN FFA volunteers, along with about 45 people from organizations, packed more than 26,000 meals in a little over an hour! If you do the math, that feeds 72 kids for a full year. Pretty impressive and completely rewarding!

TUESDAY...
the team reassembled (including Jared and his lack of wisdom teeth) at the Chapter House on the MN State Fair grounds, connected to the CHS Miracle of Birth Center. I didn't believe that monsoons came to landlocked states, but it DOWN POURED all morning! We spent the morning preparing for SGLC, which is fast approaching. Greenhands - get excited for one outstanding week! After trying out our facilitation skills with Ms. Amber Seibert, we all began to part ways. Maddie, Kirsten, and I met up in St. Peter for some Dairy Queen - my new favorite tradition!

MN FFA members - prepare yourselves for a summer filled with premier leadership, personal growth, and career success! The State Officer team can't wait to meet you at camps, conferences, and maybe even the Great Minnesota Get Together! :) Keep us posted on what YOUR chapter is up to this summer on the new Minnesota FFA Association page wall (LIKE this on Facebook!).

Enjoy the sunshine!
Stationed by the plow,
Liz

Educating Elementary Students

I traveled to South Minneapolis to "Hit The City" with the Morris Area FFA Chapter on Wednesday for an Ag in the Classroom activity. The goal for the day was to educate elementary students in an urban area about food; where it comes from and how it is made. I arrived at our first of two schools, Northrop Urban Environmental Elementary, at around 10:00 AM. Jeff Knobloch, Region III President, had just arrived with with a trailer full of animals for the kids to see and learn about. I was excited to see one of my old friends, Esther Koehl, was there to present. She was beckoned inside to start while a couple guys set up the fence for the animals. I decided to venture inside and check out these presentations. In the classroom, students ranging from preschool to fifth grade learned about various topics. They had a chance to match each part of a hamburger with their raw ingredients; for example wheat would match up with the bun. In the picture above, Sami Searle, is presenting this portion of the curriculum and I even had the opportunity to help her out. (even more exciting to me was the smart boards that many of the classrooms had, as you can see in the picture it is a great way to teach!) The students also had a worksheet where they connected father, mother, and baby by drawing lines between them such as boar, sow, and piglet. They were even able to put a soybean and corn seed in moist cotton ball to see it germinate and grow in the coming days. In addition they received pig noses that they decorated (you can see them in some of the photos). As a part of the presentation, the kids had a chance to go outside and see some animals. There was a kid, a baby goat, a beef heifer, a five day old dairy bull calf, two adult sheep, and a rabbit. Near each animal was an FFA member to talk to the students about them. My new friend Taylor was nice enough to let me feed the calf (which completely made my day!!) for all the kids to see. After every student in Northrop Elementary had seen the animals and experienced the presentations it was time for lunch. We went into the gym and their principal, Kathy, thanked everyone for all the work they had put in for this event. Then about ten kids of varying ages came in and each one thanked us for what they appreciated most that day (SUPER cool!). For lunch, we were lucky enough to eat with the students! It was exciting to talk to them about their lunches and make a connection with everything they had learned that day. Finally, it was off to the second school, Wenonah Elementary, which turned out to be within a mile or two of the airport, which turned out to be a bit annoying for the FFA members working with the animals outside. They made it work though. By this point, they were giving the presentations for the third or fourth time and had it down pat. Before I knew it the day was over. I would like to thank everyone who helped put this event on and to the members of Morris FFA chapter for doing such a great job with these students. It was a fun day! I even got to catch up with some old friends like Jenna Moser, and Lauren Kill among several others. I also made some new friends including Tom, Jake, Kelly, Brooke, and Dylan. I hope to see more events like these in the future!

Kathy speaks to us in the gym.

One of the kids wore his Grandpa's FFA jacket!!

I hope everyone is getting excited for camps along with other summer FFA activities, because I definitely am! Hope to see some of you at graduation parties in the coming weeks as well!


Stationed by the door,

Justin J. Crowley