Advisor Update - Revised 5/1/13

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This is the first call for registration for the 2013 National FFA Convention group travel packages sponsored and authorized by the California Association, Future Farmers of America.  Please discuss this with your officers and members immediately.  Special group packages, resulting in considerable benefits to trip participants, have been organized.  A limited number of seats are available on each package. These will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. Submit your reservations as soon as possible to guarantee that you will get seats before they run out!

Download the 2013 National Convention Trip Packet Information

The survey for the 85th State FFA Conference is now available. The California FFA Association wants to hear from advisors, students, parents and guests. Please take the time to have send this link to participants of the conference. Your input is valuable to planning and organizing next years conference. Please follow the link below.

85th State FFA Conference Survey

The FFA Day at Dodger Stadium is scheduled for Sunday, September 29 at 1:10PM. Come watch the Dodgers face the Colorado Rockies fo rthe last matchup of the 2013 regular season. Download the Announcement Flyer for more details.

Please mark your calendar for four 2013 California Forestry Challenge events:

September 25 to 28 – Shasta Forestry Challenge near Shingletown

October 9 to 12 – Sequoia Forestry Challenge near Springville

October 23 to 26 – El Dorado Forestry Challenge near Placerville

November 6 to 9 – Santa Cruz Forestry Challenge near Boulder Creek

For more information, go to the Forestry Challenge website at:

http://www.forestrychallenge.org/index.php

If you are interested in volunteering or observing, please take a moment to fill out and return the Volunteer Form linked on the homepage.  By doing so, you are not committing to being there, but simply putting yourself on my list of potential volunteers/observers.  Lodging is available with prior arrangement, and meals are provided for the time you are there, as well as a fabulous event t-shirt. The website also contains this year's schedule, detailed information about all 2013 events, and photos from past years. Your time and interest is important to the program’s success.

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The latest information in now available by going to http://www.calaged.org/events/state-convention-home or clicking a link below

State Conference Home

• Agricultural Tours
• Award Finalists
• Delegate Operations
• General Sessions
• Nominating Committee & State Officer Candidates
• Press Corp Members
• Registration
• Schedule of Events
• State Band, Choir, & Talent
• State Scholarship & Proficiency Finalists

Cal Poly- San Luis Obispo is pleased once again to be offering three-week “late spring” courses for teachers seeking a Masters of Agricultural Education degree, an Ag Specialist teaching credential, or desiring to earn units to count for pay scale advancements.  Registration for these courses is currently open. All of the courses are scheduled to begin on Monday, June 17, 2013.  They will meet for three hours each day on June 17-21, Saturday June 22, Friday June 28, and July 1-3.  Please note we are not having classes meet during the CATA Summer Conference this year so that students can participate fully in the CATA event.  Any deviations from this schedule are at the discretion of the instructor, and require instructor approval.
 
The registration process this year is different than past years.  Once you have selected the course(s) you plan to take, contact the Extended Education office at (805) 756-2054 during regular business hours.  The staff will provide you with registration information.  The staff in Extended Education will process student registrations and enrollment in the courses.  You will receive an email confirming your enrollment. The confirmation email will provide directions, and further steps which are necessary to complete the enrollment process, including paying fees and setting up your access to the Cal Poly Portal.
 
If you are planning to attend the three-week courses, you may wish to register as soon as possible, as some of the courses may fill up. Note:  If you are currently on an “educational leave” from Cal Poly, you will need to return to regular status before you can register for the three-week courses.  Please contact Dr. Bill Kellogg at bkellogg@calpoly.edu for instructions on how to return to active student status. Please CLICK HERE to download the course descriptions.
 
Questions about the three-week courses should be directed to Dr. Bill Kellogg, Department Head, Agricultural Education and Communication Department at bkellogg@calpoly.edu.

Please go to the CDE Home Page to see the latest resources for your team. A few new items in the Resources section are

Resources

• Ag Sales Product Description-2013
• Dairy Foods Test Bank - 2013
• Extemporaneous Topics - 2013
• Job Interview Descriptions - 2013
• Impromptu Sample Questions-2013
• Specialty Animal Test Bank-2013
• Exploring Cooperatives Manual – Part 1
• Exploring Cooperatives Manual – Part 2

California FFA Foundation Partners with Barefoot Apparel
 

Need chapter t-shirts? If your chapter is planning to order FFA shirts, sweatshirts, or other FFA apparel, consider using Barefoot Apparel. The folks at Barefoot have made a generous donation to the California FFA and we would like to support them in return. Barefoot has great FFA designs, or they will work with chapters to create their own designs. Check out their FFA catalog at:   http://www.barefootagriculture.com or Click on their Ordering Guide Here

California FFA Gear-Now Live

The California FFA Association has partnered with Paula Maita and company out of Elk Grove, CA to offer a line apparel, bags, hats, etc with an exclusive California FFA Logo. If you are interested please CLICK HERE. The proceeds directly benefit the California FFA Association. Also if you are interested in the quality work and service Paula Maita provides, you may contact them directly for chapter specific promotional items.

__________________NATIONAL FFA NEWS_________________

Mr. Tom Simmons, of the American Institute of Floral Designers has extended an invitation for agricultural education instructors and their students to attend the 2013 AIFD Symposium inservice program on Artistic Guidelines to Floral Design June 27, 2013.  For more information on the inservice opportunity or the AIFD Symposium please visit their website at http://aifd.org/upcoming-events/2013symposium/ or download the informational flyer

Additional questions regarding participation can be directed to Mr. Tom Simmons at tomassimmons@gmail.com

The National FFA New Horizons magazine offers a teaching guide at: http://ffanewhorizons.org/teaching_guide/. This is an all-in-one series of lessons tied to the current issue of New Horizons.  The lessons are complete with:

• Instructions
• Worksheets
• Rubrics
• Copies of the article being referenced (no need to make copies)

Even better, the lessons are all cross walked to AFNR standards as well as Common Core in math and English. Each edition of New Horizons (except Summer) will have this guide posted at the above website.  Teachers are encouraged to bookmark this location for future reference. National FFA hopes that these lessons and guides will be useful and make the magazine a more enriching tool for classroom use.