The Announcer

Fall 2016

Editor: Regina Oldendorf Wisconsin FFA Alumni, Executive Director

New Grant Opportunities Explode

IN THIS ISSUE

New Opportunities for Local Agriculture Education Support

Meet the 2016-2017 State FFA Officer Team

The 2016 National FFA Alumni Development Conference was welcomed home to where it all began in Kansas City this past July. This is where the participants learned about all of the new opportunities for local FFA Alumni Chapters, individual member communication, and how to engage others in the purpose of supporting agriculture education. Page 6

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Big Topics for National FFA Alumni Delegates in Indianapolis This October Page 5

Thank you FFA Alumni Page 7

The Wisconsin FFA Alumni Association, Inc. strives to be Wisconsin’s premier agriculture education advocate. We support the local FFA Alumni Chapters so they are better equipped to assist their local community, agriculture instructor (s) and agriculture youth.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Words From Your President— Julie Spoke Page 2

Meet the 2016-2017 Wisconsin FFA Officer Team Page 3

Julie Spoke 2016—2017 PRESIDENT

It’s summertime and we are in the midst of fair season. It was the year of the honey bee at the Jefferson County Fair. In the honey bee family, the worker bees do all the tasks needed to maintain and operate the hive. I was constantly reminded of the honey bee as I watched all the kids buzzing around the barns preparing to show their animals at the fair. They are such hard workers and very inspirational! When I think of the honey bee, I also think of the Alumni. We serve as the support network needed to help support and operate the FFA. The agriculture teacher has a harder time operating “the hive” without the worker bees (or the local alumni members) to do some of the behind-the-scenes work. You have most likely heard about the Affiliation Program as it has been an option for membership for a year now. Many of Wisconsin’s FFA Alumni Chapters have decided to take part in the Affiliation Program. If your local FFA Alumni Chapter is not currently part of the program, you may want to think about it for the 2016-2017 membership year which starts September 1st! It is the goal of the National FFA Alumni to have all FFA Alumni Chapters across the nation be part of the Affiliation Program. This program gives each local FFA Alumni Chapter the ability to sign up as many “honey bees” or members as you want for a flat annual fee. This means anyone who helps out at the local level, but has never decided to be a full fledged Alumni member, parents, supporters, school board members, or even school administrative staff. The more members we have at the local level who are knowledgeable about agriculture education and what it offers students the more support we can offer to our local FFA Chapter. The more members we have at the state level, the more individuals who receive the membership benefits and stay informed of the latest FFA and FFA Alumni news. The local FFA chapters cannot fully succeed without the strong support of our local Alumni. Thinking ahead to when the fair season ends, I am reminded of our local agriculture teachers. They are the most important worker bee of them all. There have been a lot of vacancies this last year and we have a lot of new agriculture teachers starting this coming school year. If you are one of those FFA Alumni Chapters who has a new teacher venturing in the classroom, please remember to welcome your that new adventurous soul with open arms. Take them under your wing and lend them your support. Let them know that you are there for them and find out what you can do to get them acclimated to their new position. Offer whatever you can to assist the new teacher with a successful school year. After all, a positive Alumni—teacher relationship is the most productive relationship for the FFA members.

Please keep an eye out for information updates and opportunities on our website. www.WisconsinFFAAlumni.org

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Meet the 2016-2017 WAAE President Page 3

The 2016-2017 Membership Year Starts September 1st Page 4

Big Topics for National FFA Alumni Delegates in Indianapolis This October Page 5

Updates With State and National Award Applications Page 5

State and National Grant Programs Multiply Page 6

2017 Convention Teaser Page 6

Wisconsin FFA Foundation Page 7

Donating to the Wisconsin FFA Alumni Association can be done without spending a penny! You do not even need to think about it and you will be helping the association attain its goals. Please make sure to shop with AmazonSmile when you make purchases on Amazon.com

Meet the 2016—2017 Wisconsin FFA Officer Team President

Brenna Bays

Adams—Friendship FFA Section 6

[email protected]

Vice President

Caleb Green

Stanley—Boyd FFA

Section 2

[email protected]

Vice President

Ciera Ballmer

Clinton FFA

Section 5

[email protected]

Vice President

Ashley Zimmerman

Spencer FFA

Section 7

[email protected]

Vice President

Dani Angotti

Freedom FFA

Section 8

[email protected]

Vice President

Sarah Van Asten

Wrightstown FFA

Section 9

[email protected]

Secretary

Laura Munger

Holmen FFA

Section 3

[email protected]

Treasurer

Rylee Black

Amery FFA

Section 1

[email protected]

Reporter

Hannah Taylor

Arlington FFA

Section 6

[email protected]

Sentinel

Travis Cadman

East Troy FFA

Section 10

[email protected]

Parliamentarian

Kari Fischer

Argyle FFA

Section 4

[email protected]

Meet the 2016—2017 WAAE President I would like to introduce myself. My name is Kevin Hoffman, and I am a retired Agricultural Educator from Verona who is currently serving as the 16-17 WI Association of Agricultural Educators President. I grew up on a small dairy farm outside of Verona. My family of nine children (six boys and three girls) has three siblings that farmed and two currently farming including my brother who owns and milks on the home farm. Along with another brother who is involved in Agriculture Education. The remaining siblings work in marketing, welder, and for a county agency. Being involved in agricultural education is challenging and rewarding. I made a challenge to myself to visit every section in Wisconsin at their fall in-services. I have accomplished most of that task with the one section, which hopefully I will be able to complete that goal this fall. Traveling around the state and seeing each area has been one of my most rewarding and humbling experiences that I have had as a WAAE board member thus far. What our teachers do in their limited time frames is nothing short of amazing! With the local FFA Alumni’s support and commitment to the local educator most agriculture education programs are doing well and are in good hands. With the Alumni’s positive support, friendly caring attitude teaching and working with young people is enjoyable. With your help, the rewards of a smooth successful positive supportive agriculture program will occur. Do not hesitate to call and offer your help when you can, often classroom educators become too busy and some are cautious to ask for assistance. The common goals are simple: helping young people become successful, helping the educator become successful, helping the agriculture department become successful to ultimately positively impacting the entire community. By being positive, it becomes infectious and we (Alumni and teacher) can make a positive difference.

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The 2016—2017 Membership Year Starts September 1st!!! It is time to start gathering all of your supporters, parents, and volunteers. The start of the membership year is almost here! The FFA Alumni membership year runs from September 1st—August 31st. There are a few updates that each FFA Alumni Chapter needs to be aware of as you start the membership year. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

prior to submitting membership online.

Chapter towards the end of August. Please contact the Wisconsin FFA The Affiliation Program could be Alumni state office if your FFA Alumni mandatory for all FFA Alumni Chapters C ha pter ha s not receive d this across the nation starting the 2017- information. 2018 membership year. It will be Please remember to return the Officer decided at the National FFA Alumni Contact Sheet, as it is the only way that Annual Meeting at National FFA we have of communicating with you Convention. directly.

Types of Membership How the Affiliation Program Works Membership Deadlines Available Communication Tools R e s o u r c e s f o r M e m b e r s h i p Membership Deadlines Submission There are three membership deadlines that you need to be aware of: Types of Membership  Annual Members—$20/individual March 1st—1st Deadline  L i f e t i m e M e m b e r s h i p — $ 3 1 0 / May 1st—Second Deadline individual (Lifetime membership may rise to $350 for the 2017-2018  Membership must be submitted by membership year) this date if the FFA Alumni Chapter or its individual members would like  Associate Membership—Free (Could to apply for state and / or national be removed for the 2017-2018 awards. membership year.) Affiliation Program This program allows chapters to provide membership, membership benefits services and benefits to an UNLIMITED number of volunteers/supporters for an annual fee. If your FFA Alumni Chapter has 24 or less lifetime members the program fee is $350 annually. If your FFA Alumni Chapter has 25 or more lifetime members the program fee is $250 annually. All individuals who are in this program receive the same benefits of the annual membership level.





Dues checks must be postmarked on this date to consider the Chapter’s membership submitted.

WLC Scholarship eligibility will be met if dues and membership are submitted by this date of the previous year’s membership.

Available Communication Tools If your FFA Alumni Chapter chooses to participate in this program they must The detailed membership information sign the agreement form and give it to will be emailed to the designated the Wisconsin FFA Alumni state office individuals for each local FFA Alumni

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Resources for Membership Submission Please check out our website at www.WisconsinFFAAlumni.org

You will be able to find different stepThe National FFA Organization uses by-step guides to help you through the this date to determine the state’s membership submission process. benefits based on the states membership at that time.

August 1st—Final Deadline



The state office has membership brochures available at no cost to your local FFA Alumni Chapter. Please contact us and let us know how many you would like. Each agriculture department will have 10 brochures sent to them in August.

Big Topics for National FFA Alumni Delegates in Indianapolis This October This year the Wisconsin FFA Alumni will need your help by serving as one of the 42 delegates in the annual business meeting. The annual business meeting will be held on October 21st at the National FFA Alumni Convention which is held in conjunction with the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. If you are available to serve as a delegate on October 21st from 9:30 AM—noon, please contact the state alumni office at [email protected] We will need your phone number and email address to keep you abreast of what to expect for the annual meeting. Topics to be voted on this year will have huge impacts to the state of Wisconsin. If you would like your

voice to be heard at the national level, please make sure to serve as a delegate this year. Amendments to be voted on this year: Amendment #1: Removal of annual dues and moving to 100% Affiliation Fee Amendment #2: Removal of ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP as a type of alumni membership if Amendment #1 passes Amendment #3: Remove CORPORATE PARTNERSHIP as a type of alumni membership Amendment #4: Expanding the office of President-Elect candidates to include ORGANIZATION REPRESENTATIVES and past NATIONAL FFA OFFICERS Amendment

#5:

Increasing

the

number of Past National Officers on the National FFA Alumni Council from 2 to 3 and extending their term from 2 years to 3 years Amendment #6: Implementation of new delegate process Amendment #7: Spelling/ formatting/updating/cleaning and will not change in any way what alumni does, the function it serves, or how it is organized or governed. Delegates will also vote on the following dues proposed by the National FFA Alumni Council: Annual= $10 (if Amendment #1 fails) Life= $200 (no processing fee and all will go to alumni life membership endowment)

Updates with State and National Alumni Award Applications BY LARRY LADER The National and Wisconsin FFA Alumni Associations offer several awards for FFA Alumni chapters, individual members and contributors. The Wisconsin FFA Alumni Association encourages its local FFA Alumni Chapters and members to learn about these awards and to apply for them when eligible. Even if you feel that your local chapter may not compete well, just completing an application may give you some ideas on how to better serve your local FFA members and local FFA advisor. Award applications, rules and scoring guidelines can be found by clicking on the Awards and Grants tab on our website: www.WisconsinFFAAlumni.org The National FFA Alumni has dropped several awards in recent years, but still offers the National Outstanding Chapter Award and National Outstanding Achievement Award for individual FFA Alumni members. (These two applications will change as 5

of January 1, 2017. These two award areas are being aligned with the National Program Guidebook. So this will be the last year on the current applications. At the state level we offer:



     

NEW!!! Outstanding Young Member Award (for Wisconsin FFA Alumni members who are 30 years old or younger) Newsletter Contest Website Contest Scrapbook Contest Outstanding Chapter Award Agriculture Teacher Recognition Team Ag Ed - Distinguished Contributor Award

The (state level) Outstanding Chapter Award was established three years ago and offers awards for small/ medium/large FFA Alumni Chapters with a simpler and shorter application form than the national level award. The Agriculture Teacher Recognition is

based on how active the FFA Advisor and the FFA chapter is with FFA Alumni activities. This award is not a competition so all FFA Advisors who receive the minimum score have the opportunity to receive this award. Applying for this award is a great way to recognize the contributions made by your local FFA Advisor. The Team Ag Ed – Distinguished Contributor Award is to honor individuals, groups and companies that have made significant contributions to the Team Ag Ed concept. Being a member of the Wisconsin FFA Alumni is not a requirement to be recognized for this award. All award recipients are announced at the annual Wisconsin FFA Alumni Convention in February. Scrapbooks are brought to convention and judged on site. All other award applications are scored prior to the convention. Applications must be postmarked to the Wisconsin FFA Alumni state office by November 30.

COME ONE, COME ALL! February 3 & 4, 2017 join us in Green Lake to Renew Your Purpose!

This year’s National FFA Officer Legacy Project is directed at the FFA Alumni. This means more grant opportunities for local FFA Alumni Chapters in Wisconsin!!!

State and National Grant Programs Multiply It has never been a better time for the local FFA Alumni Chapters in Wisconsin to check out grant funding. This year the National Officer Legacy Project with the help of the National FFA Alumni, have unveiled two NEW national grant opportunities and revised a current opportunity. Alumni Start-up Grant ($500) This grant is designed for newly activated FFA Alumni Chapters during their year of activation. This grant also comes with a discount of promotional items to help kick-start your new chapter. Alumni Development Grant ($500) This grant is for current FFA Alumni Chapter that need to have some new life breathed into them. The FFA Alumni Chapter must have been established at some point in previous years. Local Program Grant (up to $1,000) This grant opportunity has been around for a few year, but has strayed from its original purpose. This grant has been reworked to the way it was meant to be given out. A local FFA Alumni Chapter can apply if they have a project that needs funding that is a joint effort with the

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local FFA Chapter. All three of the national grants can be applied for on the same grant

The three nationally funded grants are given out quarterly. Deadlines for these are the 1st of January, April, July, and October. There is still time to apply for this year! Postmark application by September 30th! application. A single FFA Alumni Chapter could apply for both the Local Program Grant and either the Alumni Start-up Grant or the Alumni Development Grant. The Wisconsin FFA Alumni Association still has two grant opportunities.

New/Reactivated FFA Alumni Grant ($550) This grant is for new and reactivated FFA Alumni Chapters looking for funding to assist with expenses related to start-up. FFA Alumni Support Grant ($550) This grant is designed for FFA Alumni Chapters that are experiencing a hardship or unexpected struggle and need help promoting agriculture education in the local community.

This year’s committee is focusing on providing nostalgic activities and entertainment to help remind you how far agriculture has developed over the decades. The classic Heidel House Resort, in Green Lake, provides the perfect location to reflect on the achievements of the organization in agricultural education over the past year, while preparing and learning new skills to assist us all in the future. Watch the Wisconsin FFA Alumniwebsite for more detailed information! www.WisconsinFFAAlumni.org Our organization has grown to almost 10,000 members! We all have so much to be proud of. We hope that you can come celebrate with us!

You can reserve your hotel room now by calling the hotel at 1-800-444-2812. Make sure to identify yourself as part of the Wisconsin FFA Alumni Association when making the reservation. The reservation cutoff date is January 12, 2017. Rooming Prices: Single = $70 Double = $92 Triple = $107 Quad = $122. Want to add a night or two to your stay? Please be sure to ask for details when you make your reservation.

THANK YOU WISCONSIN FFA ALUMNI!

“The Mishicot Crew” FFA Alumni showed up in style at the 2016 Northeast Golf Outing! Thank you to ALL the Alumni who have been sponsors, inkind donors and golfers for these events. We can’t thank you enough and are so grateful for the generosity you continue to show the Wisconsin FFA Foundation.

Each month the Wisconsin FFA Foundation publishes an eNewsletter, the Corduroy Connection. To learn about upcoming events, successes, meet our state officers and even feature donors, sign up for this monthly electronic publication at www.wisconsinffafoundation.org. Click on the eNewsletter sign-up tab to also read previous issues.

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Wisconsin FFA Alumni Association, Inc.

NONPROFIT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGE

N29452 Brekke Ridge Road

PAID

Blair, Wisconsin 54616

PERMIT NO. 549

MADISON, WI “Advocating for Agriculture Education”

Dates to Remember September

October

November

8

5

Labor Day

9-11

State FFA Alumni Council Retreat—Warrens

17

2018 Convention Planning Meeting in Appleton at Paper Valley Hotel

18

2017 Convention Planning Meeting in Waupun

29-30

National FFA Alumni Convention

28-31

National FFA Convention

1

WI FFA Alumni Support Grant (POSTMARK DEADLINE)

8

State FFA Alumni Resolutions Submission (POSTMARK DEADLINE)

11

Veterans Day

11

Team Ag Ed Meeting—Wisconsin Dells

13

State FFA Alumni Council Committee Meetings—Wisconsin Dells

14

State FFA Alumni Council Meeting—Wisconsin Dells

26

Thanksgiving Day

30

State FFA Alumni Award Application (POSTMARK DEADLINE)