Illinois

NOVEMBER 2017

FFA NEWS

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1- Illinois CDE Results

2- FFA Alumni Annual Meeting

3- GROWMARK Annual Meeting

4- Farm Progress Show

5- STAR Conference

6- 212/ 360 Conference

7- Foundation Update

8-9- Chapter Visits

10-12- National FFA

Convention Results

13- Chapter Spotlight

UPCOMING

Events

Nov 5-11

Chapter Visits

Section: 1, 11, 15, 21, 25

Nov 12-18 Chapter Visits

Section: 13, 16, 19, 20, 23

Nov 26- Dec 2

Chapter Visits

Section: 10 and 14

Dec 9

State Agronomy, Dairy

Foods, Meats, and Ag Sales

Premier Leadership. Personal Growth. Career Success.

Horse Evaluation Reasons Division Superior Teams

Non Reasons Division Superior Teams

1 Normal Community 1556 2 Olympia 1553 3 Edwardsville 1547

1 Geneseo 1148 2 Oregon 1145 3 Normal West 1144

Top 5 Individuals Reasons

Top 5 Individuals Non Reasons

1 Waterloo Lydia Johanning 534 2 Shelbyville Hallie Horsman 531 3 GCMS Katie Quinley 531 4 Olympia Alyssa Casey 528 5 Sherrard Vanessa Bucher 527

1 ROWVA Thalia Jimenez 393 2 Orion Sydney Perkins 392 3 United Jessica Hall 391 4 Rochelle Amanda Headon 391 5 Normal West Jaden Thompson 391

Forestry Superior Teams 1 Olney 1672.2 2 Cumberland 1631.2

Top 5 Individuals

Middle School Superior Teams 1 Southeastern 1004.9 2 Midland 851.2

Middle School Superior Individuals

1 Southeastern Judd Daniels 399 1 Olney Seth Mitchell 608 2 Midland Colton Blunier 372.6 2 Cumberland Penny Flood 587.6 3 Olney Evan Walker 570.6 4 Putnam County Jack Buffington 532 5 Cumberland Ryley Brown 525

Land Use Superior Teams 1 Midland 934 2 United 924 3 Roanoke-Benson 916 4 West Carroll 912

Top 5 Individuals 1 United Cassi Tierney 328 2 Midland Zach Weber 316 3 West Carroll Leland Houzenga 316 4 Vandalia Nic Wollerman 316 5 United Lora Livingston 312

The Illinois FFA Alumni will be hosting their Annual Meeting and Scholarship Auction on Friday, January 26, 2018. The event will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Champaign, Illinois. The money raised at the auction will go towards the leadership conference scholarships that the Alumni award to deserving Illinois FFA Members. This event is open to anyone who would like to support leadership opportunities for Illinois FFA Members. Items that will be sold in the auction will be posted on the FFA Alumni Facebook page up until the meeting. Check out only a few of the items that are already secured for the auction below!

7 Nights luxury Caribbean resort accommodations for up to two rooms at The Club Barbados Resort and Spa.This relaxing all-inclusive resort is nestled amongst five acres and offers panoramic views of the Caribbean Sea. Winner responsible for airfare and all-inclusive supplement which provides for all dining, beverages, resort activities, taxes, and service charge. ($125 per person / per night). Total Value: $3,000

4 complimentary One-Day Park Hopper tickets to Walt Disney World Total Value: $648

DoubleTree Collinsville, IL:One night stay room, breakfast for 2, $50 towards entrée at Porters Steakhouse purchase Value: $200

One night stay, Jumers Hotel and Casino-two free buffets in Rock Island. Value: $200

Ticket Vouchers to various Cardinals Games throughout the season. Value: $50/ a piece

GROWMARK Annual Meeting  The week after the Illinois State Fair the majors ventured into the Windy City for the GROWMARK Annual Meeting. The Majors spent time in Chicago from August 22-24. During this time they had the opportunity to meet with GROWMARK employees and spend some time touring the city. Wednesday started with the opening ceremonies and welcome from the CEO, Jim Spradlin, and President, John Reifsteck, of GROWMARK. Following opening remarks, the FFA State Officers from Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin and the Junior Farmer Leaders of Ontario and Ontario 4-H presented the flags of the states and the youth associations. The week was full great sessions and speakers from across the country. We heard from several inspiring speakers, including former Super Bowl-winning Indianapolis Colts Coach, Tony Dungy. All the guest speakers were outstanding and the majors took great messages back to our own association. The week was filled with more than just sessions and guest speakers. The Majors took a tour of the Historic Hilton Chicago, opened in 1927 the hotel has been the site of many historic events and even the set for television shows and movies such as Home Alone 2. Overall the week was a fantastic experience that the Majors will never forget. -Chase Clausen

After the Majors returned from their week in Chicago for Growmark’s annual meeting, the team traveled to Decatur, IL and spent three days in Progress City for the 2017 Farm Progress Show. During these three days, the Illinois and Indiana state officers spent time in our booth we shared with Titan Tire. Illinois FFA Alumni also utilized the booth at Farm Progress by selling merchandise to show-goers who stopped by the tent. During our time at the show, we also visited many agricultural business booths working to build relationships with them. Wednesday morning, Chase and I attended the Farm Bill Listening Session that was hosted by the House of Representatives at Richland Community College. Here, we led those in attendance in the Pledge of Allegiance. I also had the opportunity to testify in front of those committee members in attendance on the importance of Agricultural Education and how support can be incorporated into the next version of the Farm Bill. In the afternoon, Titan Tire held a tire auction where they sold numerous lots of tires at auction with all funds going to Illinois and Indiana FFA Associations. Approximately $35,000 dollars were raised in this auction alone! On Thursday, Pioneer held its own live auction with proceeds going to FFA as well. They sold many items such as a grill, a tote of soybean seed, a trip to the Commodity Classic, as well as the big ticket item, a Timpte grain trailer decked out with Pioneer decals! We would like to extend many thanks to ALL supporters of Illinois FFA! Without your support, we couldn’t continue to expand the leadership capabilities of all of our members and continue agricultural education at the state level! Farm Progress Show was definitely a great time for us as a team to build new relationships with businesses and continue strong relationships we have had over many years.-Ryan Reeverts

Illinois FFA  Be Bold

Thanks to these Colleges for hosting STAR Conferences in their District!

2017 S.T.A.R. Conference After weeks of preparation, the officers hit the road with S.T.A.R. Conferences! S.T.A.R. Conferences, or Section Officer Training And Responsibility conference, is a tradition where the Majors travel all across the state to meet with section officers within their District. S.T.A.R. Conferences is a full day of training that includes learning, facilitating, and general camaraderie. Some of the highlights of the conference included Chapter Visits/LTS planning, Vision, and Mission Workshops, and Reflections. During the Chapter Visits/LTS planning period of the day, the Major State Officers met with the section officer teams that they would be visiting for Chapter Visits. Some items discussed were the responsibilities on visits, the content of visits, and answering general questions. After working on Chapter Visits, the Sections prepared a demonstrate one of their LTS Workshops to present to the group and get critiques from other section officers, the Majors, and state staff. Next up, sections created vision and missions statements for their team. A vision statement is where they would like to see their section/team be at the end of this year while a mission statement is how they will get to that point. After brainstorming and writing these statements down, they shared with the district what the statements included. To finish the day, the entire district participated in a reflection called Chalk Talk. In this reflection, members looked back on the day and all that they had worked on. They then wrote down their answers to the questions; How will IL FFA be bold for the next 90 years? How will you be bold in your sections? How can you inspire members to be bold? We would like to thank all of the members in attendance for participating, the colleges for hosting, our state staff for helping us prepare, and the families we stayed with for accommodating us. The memories we made traveling to S.T.A.R. Conferences will be ones that we shall cherish for a lifetime. -Rob Janssen

212 & 360 Conferences

During the first weekend in October, Illinois FFA hosted its first 212/360 Conference, sponsored by Illinois Farm Bureau and Decatur Visitors Bureau, at the Decatur Conference Center and Hotel. Chapters from all over the state brought their Greenhands and chapter officers to attend this weekend of fun and education. The 212 and 360 Conferences were facilitated by past state officers: Dalton Heavner, Rachel Hawk, Willow Krumwiede, and Jordan Johns. Both of these Conferences were split into six different sessions based on a theme. The theme for the 212 Conference was Growth, and the theme for the 360 Conference was Influence. The name 212 derives from the temperature at which water boils, focusing on pushing Greenhands toward the boiling point of leadership. The name 360 derives from the concept of making a full circle. This conference is dedicated to helping members reach their full circle of chapter leadership development. The sessions for the 212 Conference were about helping members achieving personal, physical, mental, emotion, social, and life-long strength. Greenhands were educated on the different facets of these types of strengths and how to achieve these strengths back in their homes. This conference was also a great way for Greenhands to meet members from around the state. For many of these members, it was the first time they were able to wear their blue corduroy jackets and attend a leadership conference. The sessions at the 360 Conference were all about how members can serve as influences in their chapters. The six sessions dealt with many important traits of influencers like relationship builders, trustworthiness, purposeful, collaborators, and agents of change. FFA members will utilize these traits as they become greater leaders in their chapters. Members leave this conference with a greater understanding of the organization and with a new skill set on how to be agents of change in their chapters. These two conferences are important steps in helping members accomplish leadership skills, and take these skills back to their chapters. The state officers were able to meet and talk with members from all around the state. For many, this was the first time they met state officers and we enjoyed hearing their story and how they plan to become agents of change. I know I speak for the rest of the team we I say we cannot wait for the next conference for this winter. -Joey Birrittier

ILLINOIS FOUNDATION FFA The Illinois Foundation FFA's Local Collection Drive has officially kicked off! Our goal for this year's local collection drive is $300,000. With your help, we can obtain this goal to provide countless opportunities to over 17,000 Illinois FFA Members. Each Illinois FFA Member is impacted some way by money raised in the annual Local Collection Drive. Does your school need help in getting your local collection drive kicked off? Visit the Illinois Association FFA's website at http://www.illinoisffa.org/foundation-toolkit.html, to access the foundation toolkit which will help you get started. Want to make a financial gift? Contact Katie Burns, Illinois FFA Communications Specialist at 217-753-3328 Ext. 108 or by email at [email protected]. Making a contribution to the Local Collection Drive means an investment in the future by supporting the FFA programs that prepare tomorrow’s agricultural leaders, food producers, food processors and natural resources stewards.

Chapter Visits  The past two weeks the state officers and section officer teams have been conducting Chapter Visits. During Chapter Visits, the major state officers travel to all twenty-five sections in the state and aspire to visit every agriculture program. The first week of Chapter Visits was conducted in Sections 9 and 22. Kylie Miller, the Section 9 President, and her Section Officers traveled around with the State President, Joey Birrittier, and the State Reporter, Ryan Reeverts, to all the schools in Section 9. Section 9 also hosted their LTS, (Leadership Training School), at Normal Community High School. Meanwhile down south State Treasurer, Chase Clausen, the State Vice-President, Rob Jansen, and the State Secretary, Dalton Painter were visiting the chapters in Section 22. With Jacob Jung, the Section 22 President, and his officer team, Chapter Visits and LTS went off without a hitch. The following week the state officers spread out across Illinois for another great set of Chapter Visits. Chase was in Section 4 with Section 4 President Sean Welch, Joey was in Section 6 with Section 6 President Jacob Beauchem, Dalton was in Section 12 with Section 12 President Kaitlyn Eathington, Rob was in Section 17 with Section 17 President Sophia Horton, and Ryan attended Section 19 and 15 LTS. Keep your eye out for when Chapter Visits come to your Section! The state officers and section officers teams may just have a mission for you to complete! -Dalton Painter

Scenes Around Chapter Visits

Can you solve the lockbox in less than 20 minutes? Current Record: 4 minutes- set at Marissa High School Section 22

Scenes Around Chapter Visits

2017 National FFA Convention CDE/LDE Results  Top Ten & Gold Emblem Ranked Teams Agricultural Communications- Midland- 9th High Team Overall Agriculture Technology & Mechanical Systems- Prairie Central- National Champions Agronomy- Iroquois West- 5th High Team Overall Dairy Cattle Evaluation & Management- Eastland- 4th High Team Overall Food Science & Technology- Rochelle- 8th High Team Overall Employment Skills- Central A & M- Abby Folines- 10th High Individual Livestock Evaluation- El Paso-Gridley- 12th High Team Overall Farm and AgriBusiness Management- Prairie Central- 6th High Team Overall Milk Quality & Products- Prairie Central- 2nd High Team Overall Poultry Evaluation- Paxton Buckley Loda- 10th High Team Overall

Silver Emblem Ranked Teams Agricultural Sales- Cambridge Conduct of Chapter Meeting- Olney Dairy Cattle Handlers- Carlyle- Lane Heinzmann Extemporaneous Public Speaking- Mahomet Seymour- Maddie Fugate Forestry- Olney Horse Evaluation- Normal Community Meats Evaluation & Technology- Prairie Central Parliamentary Procedure- Olney

Bronze Emblem Ranked Teams Agricultural Issues Forum- Pittsfield Creed Speaking- North Clay- Paige VanDyke Environmental & Natural Resources- Midland Floriculture- Wesclin Marketing Plan- Olney Prepared Public Speaking- Elmwood- Amy Christ Veterinary Science- Clifton Central

2017 National FFA Convention Results  Proficiency Awards Dairy Production Placement- Jared Dickman- Eastland-National Winner Equine Science Entrepreneurship- Sydney Riden- West Prairie- Top Three in the Nation

AgriScience Fair Animal Systems- Maddie Fugate & Jaden Klaus- Mahomet Seymour- National Winner Power, Structural & Technical Systems- Jaden Henry- Southeastern- National Winner Power, Structural & Technical Systems- Spencer Lee & Abbie ThompsonSoutheastern- 1st Runner Up Power, Structural & Technical Systems- Kylie Orris & Abbey Owen- Southeastern- 1st Runner Up Animal Systems- Eric Schafer- Pana- National Finalist Environmental Services & Natural Resources- Kristine Schoenecker- Chicago High School of Agricultural Sciences- National Finalist Environmental Services & Natural Resources- Jackson Budwell- Edwardsville Lincoln Middle School- National Finalist Environmental Services & Natural Resources- Baylee Harris & Ashlyn MillerSoutheastern- National Finalist Food Products & Processing Systems- Bailey Limestall & Gena Bourgeois- Waterloo National Finalist Plant Systems- Rylie Whitaker- Southeastern- National Finalist Social Systems- Michael Jacobson- Naperville Central- National Finalist Social Systems- Tanner Mickey & Molly Smith- Taylorville- National Finalist

2017 National FFA Convention Results  National Chapter- Building Communities Award Winners Pontiac- "Road Rally" National Finalist

Goreville- "Recycling the Smart Way" National Finalist

Pittsfield- "Heroes Among Us" National Winner

National Band & Chorus Members Band Members Ryan Berry- Warsaw FFA Chapter Celia Hartman- West Carroll FFA Chapter Loren Koenigstein- Columbia FFA Chapter Ethan Steber- Olney FFA Chapter Clayton Thomas- Normal West FFA Chapter

Chorus Members Josiah Chatterton- Bushnell Prairie City FFA Chapter Kaley Konopasek- Cisne FFA Chapter Cody Bratcher- Seneca FFA Chapter Harrison Walker- Cisne FFA Chapter

Chapter Spotlight Tri-Point FFA Chapter Excels at National Barrow Show Judging Contest The Tri-Point FFA Livestock Judging Team captured 3rd and 5th place honors at the National Barrow Show judging contest held Monday, September 11. The 3rd place team was comprised of Frankie Smolkovich, Tara Hummel, Rodney Billerbeck and Brittney Billerbeck. Amyjo Steichen also earned 2nd individual overall honors in the contest, while Frankie Smolkovich earned 5th place and Tara Hummel was 6th in the contest. The team of Amyjo Steichen, Margie Billerbeck and Kayla Dunlavey placed seventeenth in the event. To prepare for the contest, the team went to several workouts beforehand with different college groups from all across the country. After extensive workouts in Iowa, the team then traveled into Minnesota, to make final preparations for the contest.

Do you want your FFA Chapter to be featured in the next Illinois FFA Newsletter? Send your chapter's story to Katie Burns, Illinois FFA Communications Specialist at [email protected]. Each story should be around a page in length and include 2-3 high-quality photographs sent in JPEG format.