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!