Day 2 @ the 82nd National FFA Convention

Farm Business Management and Forestry Teams


Day 2 at the 82nd NATIONAL FFA CONVENTION

Yesterday was a 5am to 1:30 am day and the kids were great! What energy. We competed in Farm Business Management, Forestry, Public Speaking and Agriculture Issues. We have taken a BRONZE in Public Speaking and Agriculture Issues and finished up the rest of the competitions today. As we go through the next 36 hours, we will get little sleep. We will attend two more sessions, support Mr. Pede and Mr. Mark Miller as they receive their Honorary American degrees, attend three awards banquets, visit the career show, watch the finals in Creed and Ag. Issues, and so much more! We saw Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs as he presented his motivational keynote address, and then were entertained at a great concert by former FFA member TOBY KEITH! We took Mr. and Mrs. Miller out to Bucca DeBeppos to celebrate his honorary degree and now we are recharging our battaries with a ittle pool time at the hotel. Enjoy the pits of the convention! Chat soon.

Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs


TOBY KEITH
America's Toughest Concert

We are here in Indy @ the 82nd national FFA Convention and the crew (24 students) are pumped to the MAX. We got ourselves settled in at the hotel, did some pool time and then headed off to the Cracker Barrel for a late supper and some serious "nerve control session". All is all it was a great ride with karaoke singing the whole way here. It will be a 6 am on the bus morning, so I'll leave you with some pictures and I'll be back tomorrow.

Getting ready for Nationals
The forestry team learns how to "cruise" on school property.

Newton Aggies in full swing
Some Aquaculture shots as we prepare for biomass!

Wow, its October and the countdown to Indy in the Newton Ag shop is in full swing. For most AgEd programs that would be enough to deal with, but not for a Newton Aggie!
My Introduction to NRO class has just finished the FFA History and Parli Pro unit and they did very well on the test. It seems to have ignited a small flicker of ember in these great youngsters to develop a team for the Parli Pro CDE in the spring at the State Convention..... Trust me , I'll fan that flame and we'll be sending another team to Nationals in 2010!
The Wildlife class has been working on developing their orienteering skills with compass and distance measurement. This week will be team elimination and we'll see which team gets to dip into Mr. Pede's pockets for a free Taylor ham and cheese sandwich on next Tuesday. May the best team win.
The Aquaculture class has completed the inoculation protocol on both the trout tank system and the shrimp rearing system. We will continue to monitor the water quality in Ammonia, Nitrite,Nitrate, pH and Temp through this week and develop our excel templates to create meaningful graphs once the biomass arrive.
The Forestry class have been completing the Rock Climbing unit and are looking forward to Thursday when Mr. Waldron will be our guest climber. Should be a great day on the face. The National FFA Forestry team has also been very busy training for their assault on Indy. Should be a great National Convention.
Nationals Countdown 20 days!

Wildlife Management Class










Archery Safety at the Whittingham
Hunter Education barn. Its great to see our
affiliation with the ATA (Archery Trade Association)
is paying off with students interest peaking in
archery instead of video gaming!











Aquaculture Science

The shrimp cages are being built. This is a
"prototype" which will increase our
surface area in each rearing tank by 6 fold!
That should give us almost 250 sq. feet.
So what does that mean? Over 600 shrimp in
the 20-25 count bracket. Simplified...Big Shrimp!











Trout tank is all set for Biofilter inoculation!










Keep checking to see whats NEW.
FFA meeting on Wednesday Sept 23, 2009

So much to do, so little time

This week just flew by. Oh sure it was our first full week, but where did it go?
Introduction to Natural Resource students are learning so much FFA history and they had their first quiz and the grades were great! I just love student success. They also had their first opportunity to partake in our "Country Meats" beef stick fundraiser and lets just say...They ate it up! Not to worry our second case will be here on Monday, just hope they last until our first FFA meeting of the Year.
Wildlife management class had their first Journal Reviews and, ok, lets say they were not bad, BUT, I want more from them, and after a 20 minute "Ag room pep talk" I will be excited to read them on Monday night. We have been visiting the Whittingham Wildlife Management hunter safety education barn for instruction in archery safety and bow tuning. It has easily been over 15 years since I had a class so totally immersed in archery. Its so cool to see these young men and women taking up the sport. The archery industry provides many career opportunities.
Forestry/Outdoor Recreation is busy completing "Lead Climbing" and also helping out with the shrimp project. The crew is all working on National CDE preparation and developing skills for the State CDE in Land Judging.
Aquaculture class has begun learning water quality testing. The trout tank is all set to be inoculated with Nitrosonomas and Nitrobacter bacteria next week for ammonia reduction and control. The shrimp cage "prototype" is almost complete and plumbing of the shrimp bead infinity biofilter is on the front burner for next week.
Speaking of next, September 23rd is our first FFA meeting of the year. Eric Nelson; NJ State FFA treasurer will be attending as an alumni of Newton, Jessica Vol ; NJ State FFA Secretary will be on "official " State visitation business, and the word on the street is that Dr. Gabby Gordon, past Newton FFA President, Past NJ State FFA officer will be making a guest appearance....WOW what a way to start the year. September 24 is "back to school night" and our officer team will be in full force at the Mum Table and speaking with parents of FFA members along with providing Ag Building tours.
Teaching AgEd and FFA...Its not a job.... Its a PASSION!... and I just love the energy and enthusiasm. Newton FFA.... How Bout It!
Countdown till NATIONALS 30 days

You bet our standards are HIGH. Its FFA the Newton Way

Going for the Gold in Indy!



Courage is the fabric of FFA success at Newton






We got NO Phobia about AgEd success
the Newton FFA way!