Need help finding volunteers?

CSX can help!

CSX, a leading transportation company and platinum level FFA sponsor, is encouraging their employees to get involved with the local chapters in the communities where they work and live. As part of this effort, chapters now have the option to post volunteer opportunities via the Beyond Our Rails website.

This is open to any of the 23 states that CSX operates in. CSX employees can volunteer their time to help with career talks, CDEs, and service activities.

Visit https://www.easymatch.com/csxgive/applications/agency to login and up-load your activity. Click on the Yes, I have an ID and password, and then use the following information to login:

Account Number: 7128,
User ID: csxvolunteers
Password: Volunteer1

Finally, click on the new volunteer form.

Be sure to include your time zone and post at least two weeks in advance of the activity’s date.

Note: You cannot apply for anything else on the home page, only the volunteer query.  Posted opportunities are only accessible to CSX employees.

Thank you for  helping CSX get involved!

Have questions? Contact Rheba Howard with the National FFA Foundation, rhoward@ffa.org, 317-802-4268.

Introducing… National FFA Update with CEO Dwight Armstrong

We’re excited to share with you the premiere episode of  National FFA CEO Dwight Armstrong’s monthly video update!

In each episode Dwight will share the latest and greatest news from the National FFA Organization, National FFA Foundation, and National FFA Alumni Association.

In this episode, Dwight talks about FFA Week, Ram Trucks “So God Made a Farmer” ad, and the Agricultural Career Network.

Finally, help Dwight win his Twitter battle against National FFA Advisor Steve Brown! Follow him @FFADwight. And feel free to tweet him your questions and comments. (If Twitter isn’t your thing, email him at darmstrong@ffa.org.)

Mark your calendars for the National FFA Alumni Webinar Series

The National FFA Alumni Association and Dr. Jeff Magee are offering a great series of webinars for 2013.

Dr. Magee is an acclaimed leadership coach who has numerous prestigious clients and success in motivating companies and individuals to grow their potential. We are thrilled to offer an evening with Dr. Magee once a month on the first Tuesday of every month.

These webinars are a great resource for you to learn as an individual or grow your FFA Alumni affiliate and/or FFA chapter.

March 11, 7:00 p.m. EST
Register Now
Topic: Agricultural Career Network Training for Local FFA Alumni Administrators
This webinar will walk through each of the menu items for a local FFA Alumni administrator. Since membership season is in full swing, we’ll focus on renewing members, adding new members and submitting membership and dues to state and/or national. If you are the contact for your local FFA Alumni responsible for managing affiliate and member information, this training is for you!

Don’t miss National FFA Alumni’s webinar series

The National FFA Alumni Association and Dr. Jeff Magee are offering a great series of webinars for 2013.

Dr. Magee is an acclaimed leadership coach who has numerous prestigious clients and success in motivating companies and individuals to grow their potential. We are thrilled to offer an evening with Dr. Magee once a month on the first Tuesday of every month.

Register today!
The first webinar is coming up on…

Tuesday, March 5
7:30 p.m. EST.

Topic: Understanding and Implementing a Recruitment Program/Marketing

March is when some state convention start, the start of spring, it’s a great time to Spring your FFA Alumni Affiliate into action!  This is also a great time to help your FFA members prepare for contests, making FFA Alumni relevant to current FFA members.

ffaorg.webex.com

Could your mom be “Farm Mom of the Year?”

Do you know an amazing Farm Mom?

Nominate her for a chance to win up to $10,000!

Monsanto is giving you the opportunity to honor her contributions with the 2013 America’s Farmers Mom of the Year contest.
Go to AmericasFarmers.com after February 28, 2013, to nominate your favorite farm mom. Explain in 300 words or fewer how she contributes to her family, farm, community and industry.

There will be five regional winners of $5,000 each. All five will be posted on AmericasFarmers.com, where voting will determine one national winner of an additional $5,000.

Apply and see rules and eligibility at AmericasFarmers.com.

FFA Love: Part Two

FFA members and alumni submitted so many lovely stories this week at our FFA Connect website. We’ll share a few of our favorites with you throughout the day.

Our second story comes from Amy Behring in Hunnewell, Missouri. Here boyfriend found a creative way to get her attention during an activity at FFA camp.

You would think that answering the question, “How has FFA impacted your life?” would be quite simple, but it has changed my life in so many ways I don’t even know where to start!

As a kid growing up in rural Missouri my older sister was a huge role model for me, seeing her success in FFA made me want to join when I became a freshman as well.

I was a shy child at the time, but after being an active member my freshman year I decided to attend Missouri FFA Camp. When I signed up to go I never dreamed it would change my life so much.

While in a session at camp I was sitting by a new friend I had just met the previous day. We had just done an activity where we  wrote positive sayings on a pieces of paper taped to the back of our shirts. My friend tells me to turn around because he wanted to write something else on my paper.

Later, when I took the paper off of my shirt, I noticed that there was a phone number written on it.

I thought, ‘What kind of joke is this?’ Turns out it wasn’t. We texted for many months and soon became great friends.

Even with a long distance between us, we were able to visit  each other and soon began dating.

FFA really did change my life! Not only did I meet my amazing boyfriend , but I also really have come out of my shell. I served as chapter Secretary my sophomore year and was elected President my Junior year.  I can’t wait to continue my journey with FFA and meet so many more people!

Do you also have a great story about your FFA experience? Submit it to us at www.connectffa.org.

FFA Love

Happy Valentine’s Day!

FFA members and alumni submitted so many lovely stories this week at our FFA Connect website. We’ll share a few of our favorites with you throughout the day.

First,  a story of best friends who met through FFA, lost contact for a few years, and then reunited via Facebook. It was submitted to us by Shelby Thompson of Cairo, Georgia.

It was the year 2007 I believe, in Indianapolis, Indiana.  My first National FFA convention. 

Our group, from Grady County, stayed at a huge hotel with the indoor pool and pool tables.  Our first night there, we were playing pool with some other FFA kids when I met Tyler from Irwin County. 

I remember going to the meetings and sitting in the hallways in the evenings at the hotel just talking to one another, learning about each other. 

We parted after that week in Indiana. He didn’t have a phone, or any other way for me to keep in touch. Throughout the remainder of our high school FFA years, we would always run into each other at state conventions and competitions and would talk as though we had never been apart.

Then 2009 rolled around: graduation.  It was a slightly sad moment for me.  I was president of our chapter senior year, and I was going to greatly miss everything about FFA; especially being able to see–as I called him– my best friend. 

The years went by and I always wondered what he was up to, and how he was doing. 

One day in the beginning of 2012, I finally found him on Facebook. I found out that  I had been living and working  right down the road from him! And, I was always traveling through his hometown, hauling horses and hitting rodeos.  It was insane to think we were so close all along. 

We exchanged numbers and it was like we never skipped a beat.  We’ve been dating ever since and going strong. 

I thank the Lord for letting me have the privilege of being in FFA, giving me all the great opportunities I’ve been given and letting me meet such great, life long friends.  If it wasn’t for FFA, I’d have never met my best friend and the love of my life.  

Do you also have a great story about your FFA experience? Submit it to us at www.connectffa.org.

 

Tell us your FFA Love story…

 

Did you and your sweetie meet through FFA?

Tell us your story at www.ffa.org/connect.

We’ll feature the top three stories here on our blog this Valentine’s Day!

Become an Associate FFA Alumni Member

Associate membership is a five-year, no-cost membership for recent high school graduates to keep them connected with FFA and engaged with FFA Alumni.

Starting spring 2013 all graduating seniors will receive a five-year gifted membership to the National FFA Alumni Association. These students will be able to log into their Agricultural Career Network profile in late spring and opt-in to become an Associate member.

The membership will allow the FFA Alumni an opportunity to stay connected with those active FFA members as they move into their next phase of the FFA cycle and remain “Forever Blue”. After the five year membership to remain engaged those members must purchase a level of membership. The membership grants members electronic communication, free portals in the Ag Career Network, access to all discounts, access to the National FFA Alumni Convention and the FFA Alumni Development Conference.

Check out this document more information or contact the National FFA Alumni Association at alumni@ffa.org.

FFA Agricultural Career Network connects students with employers

Today, we’re announcing a first-of-its-kind formation of partnerships that will help our members acheive career success!

We are working in collaboration with Career Cruising, a provider of age-appropriate career planners, assessments and other resources; and AgCareers.com, a leading provider of Human Resources services to agricultural companies to offer valuable career tools and resources through the Agricultural Career Network.

Launched last December, AgCN is a nationwide system designed to help FFA members document their educational achievements, create robust portfolios, and pursue award, scholarship, internship and employment opportunities. The network will provide a database of students who are interested in particular career fields within the industry.

Through our relationship with Career Cruising, members will have easy access to career information within selected fields of interest. Career Cruising will provide online career exploration tools that lead to recommending classwork and hands-on learning opportunities while guiding members along a path tailored to their abilities. With its ccInspire platform, Career Cruising connects individuals to career mentors and employers in their community.