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Wisconsin FFA Center's Weekly Newsletter

WISCONSIN FFA UPDATE - News In Brief
A weekly update on Wisconsin Association of FFA activities from the Wisconsin FFA Center, Inc.

For the week of January 30, 2012

1. State FFA Degree Application Due February 1, 2012 - Wednesday!!!!
2. Wisconsin FFA State Star Applicants - Applications Due February 1, 2012 - Wednesday!!!
3. Mail Your Degrees and Proficiencies to the Wisconsin FFA Center
4. State FFA Honors Band or Chorus Due February 6
5. 212 and EDGE Conference Registration Materials Available Online
6. New Ag Career Network
7. 2011-12 FFA Member ID Number Available
8. All Students Submitting Applications and Participating in FFA Events Must be Listed as Active FFA Members on Chapter Rosters
9. FFA Mailboxes For Sale at 2012 State FFA Alumni Convention - Janesville
10. Judges Needed for March 2-3 Proficiency Award Judging
11. Judges Needed for March 2-3 Proficiency Award Judging
12. 2012 National FFA Collegiate Scholarship Program
13. Did You Know?
14. Quote of the Week
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Upcoming Events:
Jan. 30 District 10 Speaking Contest - River Valley
Jan. 30 District 23 Speaking Contest - Seymour
Feb. 1 District 13 Speaking Contest - Juda
Feb. 1 District 14 Speaking Contest - Janesville Craig
Feb. 2 District 2 Speaking Contest - Prairie Farm
Feb. 2 District 3 Speaking Contest - Cameron
Feb. 2 District 25 Speaking Contest - Green Bay Preble
Feb. 6 District 6 Speaking Contest - Eau Claire
Feb. 6 District 7 Speaking Contest - Cochrane-Fountain City
Feb. 6 District 9 Speaking Contest - Westby
Feb. 6 District 20 Speaking Contest - Thorp
Feb. 6 District 26 Speaking Contest - Denmark
Feb. 6 District 27 Speaking Contest - Kiel
Feb. 6 District 28 Speaking Contest - Horicon
Feb. 6 District 30 Speaking Contest - Badger
Feb. 7 District 4 Speaking Contest - Ellsworth
Feb. 7 District 17 Speaking Contest - Pardeeville
Feb. 8 District 12 Speaking Contest - Dodgeville
Feb. 8 District 15 Speaking Contest - Deforest
Additional Dates for February Contests are posted on the Wisconsin FFA Website

Feb. 8-10 National FFA Inservice - Indianapolis, IN
Feb. 9 CTSO Legislative Day - Madison
Feb. 10-12 State FFA Alumni Convention - Janesville
Feb. 17 FFA Hockey Extravaganza - UW-Madison
Feb. 18-25 National FFA Week
Feb. 23-24 State FFA Board Meeting - Wisconsin Rapids
Feb. 24-25 FFA Farm Forum - Wisconsin Rapids

FFA Application Deadlines:
Feb. 1 State FFA Degrees - Postmarked - Send to Wisconsin FFA Center
Feb. 1 State Star Applications due with State FFA Degrees - Send to Wisconsin FFA Center
Feb. 6 State FFA Honors Band and Chorus - Postmarked - Send to Wisconsin FFA Center
Feb. 15 National FFA Scholarship Applications - Submitted online to National FFA
Feb. 20 State FFA Proficiency Awards - Postmarked - Send to Wisconsin FFA Center
March 5 American FFA Degrees - Postmarked Send to Wisconsin FFA
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REMEMBER.....PLEASE MAKE SURE TO APPY PROPER POSTAGE AS POSTAL RATES HAVE INCREASED AS OF JANUARY 22
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State FFA Degree Application Due February 1, 2012 - Wednesday!!!!
State FFA Degree Applications are due February 1. The State FFA Degree Application is online at http://www.wisconsinffa.org/pg-sae.php The application on the Wisconsin FFA website has been updated to include the Community Service page within the Excel Document. Please use this application so that you don't have to add the extra community service page....The community service requirement for students is now located on WI page 12 of the State FFA Degree Application. ALSO students must submit a copy of their official high school transcripts to verify their 360 hours of high school agricultural education course work. This is new for 2012. All 360 hours of course work must be COMPLETED by the February 1 application deadline.....very common question asked.
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Wisconsin FFA State Star Applicants - Applications Due February 1, 2012 - Wednesday!!!!
If you have a member applying for the State FFA Degree, they may want to consider applying for State Star recognition? Stars are recognized in the four areas: Farmer, Agricultural Placement, Agribusiness and Agriscience. In order to apply for State Star Recognition, a student must be applying for their State FFA Degree, then they must also fill out the "Star Battery" which provides additional information for this level of recognition. The Star Battery is located athttp://www.wisconsinffa.org/pg-sae.php on the Wisconsin Association of FFA website. In order for a student to be considered for State Star Recognition, they must include all necessary pages and information or they will not be considered if any portion of the Battery or State Degree is missing. Please see the State Degree Handbook for more information about applying for State Star Recognition. http://www.wisconsinffa.org/pg-sae.php
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Mail Your Degrees and Proficiencies to the Wisconsin FFA Center
All State and American Degrees and Proficiency Award Applications need to be mailed to the Wisconsin FFA Center. Cheryl Zimmerman, State FFA Executive Director, will be overseeing the processing of these award applications. The address is Wisconsin FFA Center, P.O. Box 110, Spencer, WI 54479.
PLEASE MAKE SURE TO APPY PROPER POSTAGE AS POSTAL RATES HAVE INCREASED AS OF JANUARY 22

The following are the postmark deadlines:
State FFA Degree - February 1, 2012
State FFA Proficiency Awards - February 20, 2012
American FFA Degrees - March 5, 2012
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State FFA Honors Band or Chorus Due February 6
Each year we have two fantastic groups of musicians come together at the State FFA Convention to perform and also perform at the State Fair. Encourage your students who play an instrument or sing in the choir to audition for the Wisconsin FFA Honors Band or Chorus. The past couple years, we have had fewer applications submitted for these two groups. We would love to see more students apply!!

There are also revisions to the State Chorus application so please use the one currently posted on the Wisconsin FFA website. Encourage FFA members to check out the application and audition process online athttp://www.wisconsinffa.org/pg-applications.php . State Convention performance are June 12. State Fair performances are August 9-12.
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212 and EDGE Conference Registration Materials Available Online
The 2012 Spring 212 and EDGE Conferences will be held at the Holiday Inn in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, March 23-24, 2012. This is a Friday night/Saturday schedule. The 212 Conference is designed for Freshman and Sophomore members..this is the same conference as offered last Fall. The EDGE Conference is designed for 7th and 8th graders entitled "Build the Leader in You". These are two great conferences. EDGE will be presented by Rhett Laubach and his staff. 212 will be presented by National FFA Staff. Registration is due online March 1 to the Wisconsin FFA Center. Don't miss out!! Online registration is located at http://wisconsinffa.org/registration_leadership_conference.php
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New Ag Career Network
The New Ag Career Network is up and running. If you have members to add or renew, you will need to use this new system to enter members. Directions to use the new Ag Career Network are posted on the Wisconsin FFA website under Membership. http://www.wisconsinffa.org/pg-membership.php Please let us know if you have questions.
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2011-12 FFA Member ID Numbers Available
If you are looking for an FFA member's ID number for an award application or competition, you will now need to use the New Ag Career Network site under your personal account and roster renewal.
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All Students Submitting Applications and Participating in FFA Events Must be Listed as Active FFA Members on Chapter Rosters
A review of membership will be done as students participate in events and submit applications. Remember that there is still an opportunity to add more FFA members to your chapter even after you completed your initial roster. You will now need to use the new Ag Career Network to add your new members. Final membership deadline is March 1, 2012.
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FFA Mailboxes For Sale at 2012 State FFA Alumni Convention - Janesville
Remember the mailboxes that each state FFA officer had painted last year and on display at the Wisconsin State FFA Convention? These will be auctioned off at the Wisconsin FFA Alumni Convention February 10. Don't miss buying one of these wonderful pieces of artwork.
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Judges Needed for March 2-3 Proficiency Award Judging
Plans are underway for the 2012 Proficiency Judging to be held Friday evening, March 2 and Saturday, March 3 in Wisconsin Dells at the Chula Vista Resort. We are looking for as many people as possible to assist with the judging of the many proficiency applications that will be submitted by Wisconsin FFA members. Please contact Cheryl Zimmerman, State FFA Executive Director, if you are interested in judging. If you are able to arrive on Friday evening, March 2, we will begin the judging process. We will be judging the State Star Applications and some of the smaller Proficiency Award areas on Friday evening. Saturday we will begin the judging orientation at 8:30 a.m. Hotel rooms are available for Friday evening, March 2. Reservations need to be made by Monday, February 20. You may call the Chula Vista Resort directly to make your reservation 1-866-975-3040. There is a block of rooms set aside under FFA at a rate of $70.00/single; $95.00/double. Please indicate when you make your reservation that you are with FFA and they can include you in the FFA block of rooms. Refer to block #B03605
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2012 National FFA Collegiate Scholarship Program
Each year, the National FFA Organization awards about $2 million in scholarships designed to fit the diversity of our applicants. Scholarships are sponsored by businesses and individuals through the National FFA Foundation and are given for a wide variety of experiences, career goals and higher education plans. The selection process takes into account the whole student – FFA involvement, work experience, SAE, community service, leadership skills and academics.

The 2012 scholarship program is live! Applications must be submitted online by February 15, 2012. Please encourage students to visit the FFA website at http://www.ffa.org for more information.
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Did You Know?
The Heart of a Champion By Zig Ziglar
Some things cannot be measured, and the heart is one of them. I think of three former NFL football stars. Mike Singletary, according to the experts, was too short and his 40-yard speed was not that great. However, they could not measure his heart and they did not measure his speed for the first five to fifteen yards, and at that distance he was exceptionally fast. As a result, when a running back would break through the line of scrimmage, instead of stopping him five to eight yards down field as most linebackers do, Singletary was able to stop him in the first couple of yards. That made quite a difference.

Emmitt Smith’s 40-yard speed was not earth-shattering, either, and that caused him to be drafted later than he otherwise would have been. Again, the experts could not measure his heart nor the burst of speed he was able to generate from the instant he touched the ball. As a result of both, he was able to break through the hole at the line and pick up those five to eight yards on a consistent basis and frequently break for much longer runs.

Jerry Rice is the other classic example. His 40-yard speed also was not record-breaking, but his commitment to excellence and the fact that he was a game-player, meaning that once the chips were down he was at his best, were not measurable. Video tape of Jerry Rice shows him running stride for stride down field with a defensive back until the pass is thrown to him. At that point, Jerry turns on the afterburners and frequently leaves the defensive back well behind.

There’s something here for all of us to learn. Namely, we can measure I.Q., speed, strength and a host of other things, but the will to win and the commitment to excellence will enable a person of average ability to excel. So, use what you’ve got—including your heart—and I’ll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!
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Quote of the Week
“Don't wait for extraordinary circumstance to do good; try to use ordinary situations. ” - Charles Richter
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Have a great week!

Cheryl Zimmerman
State FFA Executive Director
Wisconsin FFA Center, Inc.
P.O. Box 110
Spencer, WI 54479
715-659-4807
wiffacenter@tznet.com

FFA makes a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier
leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race,
religion, age, national origin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status,
sexual orientation, or physical, mental, emotional or learning disability.