1st Semester

Please – make a note of due dates!  These will sneak up on you and you’ll be scrambling to complete your work!

Maintain your blog and respond to prompts as assigned and by the due date.

SAE records up to date using AET.  We’ll be working together to get our records punched in and up to date. Your Records will be a portion of your quarter grade.  Please work along with the rest of the class instead of waiting until the end of the quarter/semester!  We’ll get started as a class soon, but, you can get logged back in and get your summer recorded anytime you have your data together.  Don’t forget – if you are a “green industry” person – get your photos NOW and upload them.

**Optional – Apply for an SAE Grant – due November 9, 2017. Information available here

Proficiency Applications:  We’ll be working through the application together, a little at a time.  Proficiency awards come with CASH prizes for first through third placings on the state level.  Our members could be very competitive in Proficiency awards, last year we brought home a couple thousand dollars thanks to proficiency awards.  This is one of the Officer Team’s goals for the year.  Proficiency apps will be completed online within AET.  The more thorough you are in recording things for your SAE, the easier the process will be.

Seniors (with three years or more of membership – counting this year) will  complete the State FFA Degree Application – due January 10, 2018.  Some of you should consider completing the Star battery for either star in placement, agribusiness, agriscience or farmer.  The star battery requires quite a bit of writing and 6 photos  and captions (very similar questions to the proficiency apps), start early!  Our work on records in AET will help to streamline this process as the information will simply “fly” into the application which we will be completing online.

Complete the BIG Idea.  Your entry is due October 16, 2017

Prepare for Leadership CDEs – whether competing or not, everyone will complete at least the following prior to November 1, 2017:  We will discuss how these items will be handed in.

Choose two or more from this list: **If you are preparing to compete at nationals – i.e.  Ag Issues or Ag Comm team – you must complete ONE or more items from this list.  I’d like you to invest your time in preparing to do your best in Indianapolis in October!

Rules for all Leadership CDEs are posted here.  Check the rules for the CDE you are working on.

Ag Sales Products, pricing and discounts info are located here

Job Interview job descriptions are here: Job Interview Descriptions 2017

Ag Communications Media Plan Scenario is located here.

• Complete the letter of application and resume for the Employment Skills CDE.
• Prepare for the Ag Broadcasting CDE.  Have three 30 second commercials for fictitious agricultural products written and memorized.  Develop an outline for a 4 minute broadcast complete with times for each section (markets, weather, news etc).
• Using the 2015 National Extemp Speaking Topic list, available HERE, collect and compile reference materials for each topic in preparation for the Extemp Speaking CDE.  (Print articles on the various topics and compile in a folder or notebook.)
• Prepare a written manuscript for the prepared public speaking CDE – 6-8  minutes in length on an agricultural topic.  In your own words with a works cited/bibliography page.  No plagiarism!  Check the rules for proper formatting (MLA vs APA)
• Form a team and complete all necessary product and presentation for the:
• Ag Communications CDE (team of 4) Prompt for this year’s Media Plan is linked above.
• Prepare for the Ag Sales CDE – research the specified products, develop a portfolio of product information for your category.  Develop sales pitches for each of the  products in your category.  Search for and study Written tests
• Market Plan CDE (team of 3)
• Ag Issues (team of 7)

There are a lot of samples available on the national ffa website at ffa.org.  You’ll need to log in (I can help you with that) and surf to Participate>CDEs> on the right hand sidebar there is a link to “Free CDE Q & A 2008-2015”  From there you can select any year in that range and it opens up materials for all 24 CDEs!  If you’re thinking about Market Plan, Ag Issues, Job Interview, Prepared Speaking etc – go read the samples – which happen to be the top four in the country.

Our District includes 11 chapters.  To advance to the State Leadership CDEs you must place in the top three individuals or top two teams. District Leadership CDEs will be held either Tuesday, November 14th after school here at West Central.  Each Chapter may enter two individuals and one team in each CDE at the District Level.  We will attend preliminary CDEs at the Jackrabbit Invite November 1st.  We may also compete at the Harrisburg Leadership CDEs on November 7th – we also have Parent Teacher Conferences that night so, I’ve got some things to figure out there before we commit to attending.

These requirements and expectations are subject to change at the discretion of the instructor!

For today:

If you could spend one whole year doing anything you wanted, what would you do?  We’ve just come off of a glorious four day weekend.  I really didn’t accomplish as much as I had hoped to, but we really had a lot of fun with friends!  If four day weekends never ended, what would you do with yourself for an entire year of freedom?  If you didn’t have to work to make money to feed yourself, what would you do? Tell me all about it!

Your post is due Thursday, September 7, 2017 at 8:15 a.m.