NEWS A Texas Team Ag Ed Publication
April 2019
#TammyTalks
Tammy Christian, Penelope
This month’s newsletter is coming to you from Austin, Texas. I had the opportunity to attend the Ford Leadership Scholars Banquet. What a great program! It is such an inspiration to see these students and their projects. I enjoyed visiting with them, meeting their families and hearing about their projects and future plans. Thanks to the Texas FFA Foundation and Ford Motor Company for their support of this project. This is just one of the many wonderful opportunities that our students can take part in. The community service projects they carry out are great examples of servant leadership. Continuing my journey...as soon as I had the opportunity, I headed to Penelope to talk to the Superintendent. I explained my change had helped me make the decision, that I was ready to do whatever was needed to be an Ag Teacher. I told him if the position came open, I would like the opportunity to apply again. The English Teacher was going to be going on maternity leave and he offered me a substitute position that would keep me busy for about six weeks. I jumped at the opportunity! The English Teacher, Janice Veselka, was a wonderful teacher. She had all of her plans carefully laid out. Substituting for her was a pleasure and I learned so much. I learned when leaving plans for someone else, details were important. During that time, I learned Penelope would indeed have an opening in the Ag
Department. The Superintendent called me in and told me the job was mine if I wanted it. I would have to get certified in Life/Earth Science and teach 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Science. He would still consider me a part time Ag Teacher, but I wanted to teach Ag. I was married, my husband had a good job and I was limited on where I could I go. I enrolled in Tarleton that summer and started taking Science courses and working toward getting that certification. I was on an 11-month contract and did not have a ton of summer duties. I drove from Hillsboro, Texas 4 days a week that summer to take Science classes and hopefully be able to take the Life/Earth Science ExCET Test. That spring and summer ended up being really hard personally. When I got back in the classroom, I was better, I was more mature, and I knew this was what I wanted. I had great kids and we had some success, it was an exciting time. I started working hard to build a program that would be mine. To be continued‌ Like many of you, I have finished up the spring major stock show tour. I spent the majority of spring break in Houston. I got home just in time to help my Young Farmer group with their spring fundraiser, a cajun dinner, and now we are running the CDE trail. As I look at my calendar, there is a lot left to do in just under 12 weeks of school. There is work to be done on record books, scholarships, and award applications. There are
district speaking contests and conventions, planning for FFA Banquets and officer elections. It is always a stressful time meeting all the deadlines and getting everything complete. I think it is important to have a good process in place for selecting FFA officers. Several years ago I developed a new process for our chapter. It is a four-part system, each counting 25%. The students must get 5 teacher recommendations, the teachers have a scoring system where they rank students on five characteristics. Each recommendation can be worth up to 25 points, with each characteristic being worth up to 5 points. They then can share either positive or negative information. Continue on page 2
It Isn’t A Law Until The Governor Signs It
#TammyTalks
Barney McClure, VATAT Executive Director
The students take a test, I bring in a couple of outside people to conduct an interview and then the students have an opportunity to vote. The process has worked well and I feel like the best students get put into office. I encourage you to adopt a process. Last summer I started working on some new chapter policies on electing officers, how I choose who attends State FFA convention, and how I choose who attends National FFA convention. There are others I probably need to look at adding, but that is start. There was a time when having policies might not have been so important, but today, we leave in a different world and all of these things have become necessary. Good luck to you all with CDE’s, be safe and stay positive.
I am sure many of you have been watching for news from the 86th Texas Legislature here in Austin. Since January we have been waiting for things to happen. In early April, things finally began to break loose. Most legislation must wait until after the first 60 days of the session to be considered on the House floor. Up until then, much work gets done, but mostly preliminary activities that lead up to the actual legislation. The news media is hungry for news to report also. I see headlines that would lead the reader to believe something has been decided. Simply by filing one of the 7,000 or so bills, a member often gets recognized. If the bill is heard by the committee assigned, that is another headline. If passed out of committee the coverage picks up. Once that is done, the bill must be put on the calendar to be considered by the full chamber. As an example, the school finance bill, HB 3, passed last week, consisted of more than 270 pages, and by the deadline, 92 amendments had been filed, adding another 154 pages to the reading assignment. A member may also make floor amendments. Assuming the full chamber passes the bill as amended, there must also be another floor vote to ensure final approval. This procedure is mirrored in the opposite chamber. At that point, each chamber’s bill may differ from the other. Each chamber then appoints a conference committee to hammer out the differences in the bills. The Conferee bill then is returned to the House and Senate where only a yes or no vote is taken. Assuming both chambers pass the bill, it is then sent to the Governor’s desk for his signature. Then, and only then is the bill set to become law. HB 3 is working its way through this process. I believe it is a positive step in educational legislation. We are a long way until the end, and I will keep everyone informed as we get closer. 2
Continued
INSIDE THIS ISSUE VATAT.......................................1 - 3 Texas FFA....................................4 Alumni....................................9 Young Farmers......................10 - 11
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What ag education classes do you teach? Advanced Plant and Soil Science, Principles of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources, Mathematical Applications in Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources and Agricultural Mechanics and Metal Technologies. Why do you teach ag? I teach ag because I love agriculture and I feel that it is important that everyone be exposed to it at some point in their lives. If you couple the classroom with an involved FFA experience, participants can truly build usable skills for the future.
What’S your favorite classroom memory? It is hard to pick out just one favorite classroom memory. Anytime that a student has that "I get it" moment is a great moment. What is your favorite FFA memory? My favorite FFA memories include winning four state CDEs titles and qualifying seven times for the national ag communications and Range contests. Each time has been special in its own way because of the bond each team had. Fortunately, both of my sons were on teams that qualified for nationals, making it that much more special.
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What advice would you give a first-year teacher? I would advise a first-year teacher to find a mentor and ask a lot of questions. You should not be afraid of trying new things or training new teams. You must understand that to be successful you will have to show up and out work everyone else. Sometimes you may have to change your way of thinking or what you want to do, in order to better fit your members desires and their talents. I often say it is not about finding the right kids for the team but finding the right team for the kids. I would also advise you to take an interest in other teacher’s classes and help those teachers out. Team teach or tutor for them; it will go a long way. Show up on time, following the rules, teach and out work everyone.
Why do you believe that ag education is so important? Agriculture is so important because it is something we cannot live without. It is also the one discipline that implements all other classes taught in the school. Agriculture gives students the opportunity to apply knowledge in a real-world setting. It teaches real problem solving skills. Do you have advice on balancing work/home life? Balancing a work and home life can be hard. You must make time for your personal life. However, there will be times that you cannot change your work schedule. Scheduling is important to balance both. But remember, you must spend time with family, friends or hobbies to keep your sanity.
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DISH is proud to support Texas ag education. Introducing the DISH Ambassador Program, a new way to fundraise for Texas FFA chapters Are you an FFA advisor? Learn how your chapter can participate in the DISH Ambassador Program at dish.com/FFA
FFA and its members are not authorized retailers of DISH products and services, for information on DISH products and services please contact DISH directly. Door-to-door distribution of materials regarding the DISH-FFA program is prohibited. Telephone solicitation in connection with the DISH-FFA program is prohibited. Use of the FFA Name or Mark does not represent an endorsement by FFA of this product or service or an endorsement by FFA of the manufacturer or provider of this product or service. From October 24, 2018 until June 31, 2019, for every new and qualifying former customer that signs up under DISH’s Digital Home Advantage program, FFA will receive $200.00. Restrictions apply. Program not available in AL, HI, IL, MA, MI, SC. See website for details.
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UPDATE Texas FFA Alumni News Kelly White, Texas FFA Alumni President
“There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit.” - Ronald Reagan¬ These words by our 40th United States President sum up the activities I witnessed recently. I saw 10 young men & woman wearing those beautiful Blue & Gold Jackets present the culmination of a year’s worth of work at the 2018 Ford Leadership Scholars Banquet. This event is always a pleasure and an educational experience. Each Class of Ford Scholars I have had the opportunity to witness are inspirational. I am truly impressed with their “Giving Back Spirit”. What is the Ford Leadership Scholar Program? The Ford Leadership Scholars program is a result of the Texas FFA Foundation and Texas Ford Dealers partnership to enhance the leadership opportunities of Texas FFA members. The purpose of the program is to: 1) Identify students who exhibit high levels of leadership at the chapter level. 2) Engage these identified students in a leadership development program created to enhance those qualities of leadership. 3) Recognize the Scholars to build a remarkable legacy for the future of our state and nation. The criteria for selection is based upon six characteristics of leadership identified by industry leaders: action, relationships, vision, character, awareness, and continuous improvement. I find the purpose this program was established for extremely valuable: “to build a remarkable legacy for the future of our state and nation”. The Ford Scholars I have met, their “Giving Back Spirit”, and the sustainable and substantial community service projects they presented were remarkable. They range from Ag Advocacy, Advocating for Literacy, to Championing a cause for those underprivileged. Their projects were diverse, yet all were remarkable. One project was first to build a storage area to hold tools that skyrocketed into a million dollar plus livestock facility for their school
district. What does this have to do with the Texas FFA Alumni? What are you doing to build a remarkable legacy for the future? Are you giving back? I feel the Texas FFA gives back. We give back through college scholarships, grants, and leadership conference scholarships. Christa McAuliffe’s quote “I touch the future. I teach” reassures me Ag Teachers “give back” in hopes that our FFA Members will build a remarkable legacy. Texas FFA Alumni Grants, Scholarships, and Awards will soon be updated on the www. texasffaalumni.ffanow.org site soon. You must have an active FFA Alumni/Supporters Affiliate to apply for these awards
THERE CAN’T BE A GAME WON WITHOUT A GAME PLAN See what Texas FFA students have to say at mytexasffa.org
THE NEW MY TEXAS FFA
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UPDATE Notes From
the
Executive Secretary
Bob Young, Texas Young Farmers Executive Secretary
April always seems to bring a sense of freshness that inspires people to dig a little deeper, try a little harder. We see our environment growing and flourishing. Crops are green and livestock are productive. We tend to look for ways to make things better, not only for ourselves, but for others as well. One of those ways is to practice a main principle upon which Texas Young Farmers Association was founded- community service. People doing work without pay that benefits others adds to the quality of life in that community. It benefits those who do and those who receive. Texas FFA Chapters and Texas Young Farmer Chapters are famous for performing all kinds of examples of community service. There are many benefits of participating in community service activities: (1) You have the opportunity to help others, the most important benefit. This provides the opportunity to help improve lives and make the community better. (2) You gain hands-on experience. You can learn skills in construction, customer service, communication, and medical, just to name a few. (3) You can learn about different careers. You can focus your community service activities in an area you may want to work in or learn more about. Age is no restricting factor when it comes to learning more about other jobs, professions, or programs. (4) You grow personally. Community service makes participants more organized, responsible, and compassionate. (5) You gain new friends. These are the people that you work with on the project and the people for whom you perform the work. So, I encourage ag teachers, FFA students, Young Farmers, and everyone else who reads this magazine to get involved in community 10
activities, work towards making your surroundings better for people to live and give yourself the opportunity have a positive effect on others. Texas Young Farmers has a wonderful example of a family working together to be successful, both professionally and in community service. Please take time to read about the 2018 Texas Young Farmers Family of the Year. The Jason Wendler Family of the Bryan Young Farmer Chapter is the 2018 Texas Young Farmers Family of the Year. Jason has been a participating Young Farmer member two different times: he was an early member right after completing high school until it dissolved and later, after the rebirth of the Bryan Chapter, returning because of the enthusiasm of the current young members. He has been involved in agriculture all his life. He was a Bryan FFA member and achieved the American FFA Degree. He was the National FFA Star Beef Cattle Proficiency Award winner, the Star American Farmer for Texas, and a Western Region Star American Farmer. Jason has been married to his wife Sandy for 31 years. They have daughters Skyler, Haley and Wilsey, and a son, Westin. They are all involved in agriculture and are successful in raising cattle, especially commercial steers. All of their children have graduated from college except Wilsey who is a freshman at Texas A&M University. Jason is thankful that their farming and ranching operations allowed his children to get a college education and graduate debt free. The Wendlers farm wheat, corn, and grain sorghum on over 1000 acres, and have cowcalf operations in four different counties
in southeast Texas. They also feed cattle in feedlots in three different counties in the Panhandle. Jason is a member of the Texas Farm Bureau and has twice been a finalist in their Young Farmer Award program. He has been a Director of the Brazos County Farm Bureau. He is a Lifetime Member of the Houston Livestock Show and he has been on the Commercial Steer committee for 35 years. He was the chairman of the Brazos County Youth Livestock Show Commercial Steer Committee for 20 years. His family is community-minded and have worked with local 4-H and FFA Chapters in many capacities. Jason volunteers to help local farmers and ranchers provide local food and cook it for the Chamber of Commerce Agribusiness Council for Thanksgiving every year. We all can take care of our business and also have a life of service to others. Let’s take advantage of that opportunity. Remember what Sister Mary Lauretta said, “To be successful, the first thing to do is to fall in love with your work.” Thanks for listening.
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Jason and Sandy Wendler with their youngest daughter Wilsey after she received numerous awards including the Bryan Young Farmer scholarship at the Bryan FFA banquet. 11
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VATAT
614 E. 12th Street Austin, Texas 78701
Upcoming Events April
May
June
1 VATAT Scholarship Application Deadline
1 State Officer Candidate Application Deadline
1 - 4 State Leadership Conference
15 Foundation Ambassador Application Deadline
23 Texas FFA Foundation Board Meeting
5 - 7 State Degree Check
15 Texas FFA Convention Media Deadline
24 Ford Leadership Scholars Interviews
www.vatat.org
Contact
(512) 472-3128
7 Texas FFA Board of Directors Meeting
vatat@vatat.org
Officers Tammy Christian, President
Terry Baize, Vice President
Staff
Ryan Pieniazek, Secretary/Treasurer
Barney McClure, Executive Director Ashley Dunkerley, Communications Karen Jones, Membership Services Tori Rosser, Special Projects
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