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Sectional Information - Section Three

Brian Guza - Treasurer
Blair-Taylor FFA Chapter - Section 3
bguza@wisconsinffa.org

What's New?

- Fall Newsletter

- Winter Newsletter

 

Youtube Video of the Week
Jan. 26, 2012

The Youtube Video of the Week section is back! This week's video is very special on account that YOU are the stars! Yes, you heard that right. I have created a video with over 100 photos from my chapter visits this fall. All of the photos are mixed around so you will have to watch closely to see if you can find yourself in any of the photos.

I truly enjoyed chapter visits, this video allows me to remember all of the amazing days I had at your schools, and it allows all of you to see what I was up to the entire fall. This video is private, so the only way to access it is through the link that I provide. You cannot find this on a Youtube search. I hope you enjoy it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPXbbLvxsoQ

-Brian

Upcoming Speaking Contests!
Jan. 24, 2012

It's that time of the year again! Time to gather materials for extemporaneous, practice for parliamentary procedure, recite the creed, or prepare for the other exciting speaking contests that are offered. While in middle school I participated in quiz bowl, and that is where I really learned what the FFA was all about. In high school I did the extemporaneous speaking and really enjoyed that.

Speaking contests are a great way to get involved in an FFA activity above the chapter level. There is a lot to be gained by participating in a speaking contest, such as confidence, new friends, and a lot of fun. In some sections speaking contests are already underway. The district speaking contests for Section 3 are as follows.

District 7: February 6 at Cochrane-Fountain City
District 8: February 16 at Melrose-Mindoro
District 9: February 6 at Westby

I hope all of you are excited for the upcoming speaking contests and I look forward to seeing you there! Good Luck!

-Brian

Destination: Bahamas
Jan. 18, 2012

Right after Half-Time the state officer team headed down to East Troy to spend the night so we could get on a plane in the morning. That plane brought us to Orlando and we eventually ended up on a cruise ship that led to the Bahamas. Our team trip is one that will never be forgotten.

Some of the things that we did on the cruise was eat tons of great food, watch a couple comedians, see some singing and dancing shows, shop in Nassau and Freeport, see the wonderful Bahamas, relax on the beach and ship, and catch some sun. It was definitely a fun filled vacation and was just what I needed. I am not the type of person to relax much, I always need to be doing something. So having a few days to just sit back and relax was really sweet. I will be taking another cruise sometime in my life for sure.

-Brian

Destination: Unknown
Jan. 07, 2012

Half-Time 2012 has come and gone in a flash. 364 members from across Wisconsin came to Stevens Point for one exciting weekend. The conference kicked off on Friday with some great food, a skit, a set of workshops, a dance, and a reflections program. It was a full night of fun. The theme was Destination: Unknown and each workshop took place at a different location. The workshop locations for Friday night were the desert, Nashville, New York City, and Liberia. This night focused on personal growth. Some of the topics covered were accountability, behavior, transitioning to roles beyond high school, and service. I really enjoyed the first day of Half-Time 2012.

This morning we were up early and had a great breakfast. We then went full swing into workshops again. The workshops today were focused on chapter development. The destinations were Rome, the Amazon, the Outback, and South Africa. The workshops covered building FFA membership, planning an event, marketing your FFA chapter, and resolving conflict. Matt Reinders and Adam Wehling are both past state officers and were our guest speakers for the day. They talked about an an acronym that they created, LEAD. Before the conference was finished a review video was shown with some great highlights of our time in Stevens Point. Ethan Giebel, State FFA President, also gave an inspiring speech.

This Half-Time Conference is one that I will never forget. It was so awesome to see the top leaders from all over the state come together and have a lot of fun. Thank you all for coming!

-Brian

Half-Time
Jan. 04, 2012

What do Stevens Point, FFA, over 350 members and advisors, and a whole lot of fun have in common? Well, all of them are going to be happening in just two days! Thats right folks, the Half-Time Conference is occurring in Stevens Point this weekend, January 6-7. It is sure to be a great weekend. One set of the workshops will be based on personal growth while the other set will be based on chapter growth and development. The theme this year is Destination: Unknown. So, who knows where we will travel to over the two days at the conference. There is sure to be an awesome skit, a neat reflections, and a kickin' dance. Just a reminder that the dance theme is "Tacky Tourist", so have your best tourist outfits ready. Prepare to have an exciting weekend! I know that I am pumped!

Happy Holidays!
Dec. 29, 2011

The holiday season is in full swing! This time of the year is about relaxing and spending time with family and friends. I have been to one family Christmas and have one more to go to tomorrow. I really love Christmas. If you know me, you know I love to eat, and during Christmas there is always a ton of food. My mom's christmas baking is going to put on a couple pounds. She made a bunch of cookies and such last week and I've been eating so many of them. Looks like after Christmas I'll have to start working out. The best part of Christmas is getting to see my entire family. My cousin from Texas even came up! I learn to appreciate my family more each and every day.

New Year's is coming up in a couple days and that is another exciting holiday. It will be 2012! A new year helps us set goals for ourselves. We can look back on the previous year and think about what we did well and what we can improve. New year's resolutions are something that many people do. They are goals or things that we want to start doing. Some examples are exercise more, get better grades, become a better person, volunteer to help others, eat healthier, and read at least one book per month. These were just pulled off of the internet and there are many others that you could have. Think about setting a new year's resolution or two, they could be very helpful.

Thank you all for a great year! I really am blessed to be able serve the Wisconsin Association of FFA. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

Quote of the Week
Dec. 14, 2011

This quote of the week comes from someone that we all are familiar with. We heard his stories when we were little and many of them still stick with us. This man is Dr. Seuss. He is such a good storyteller and can send a great message through his stories. Here's the quote.

"Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive that is Youer that You."

Think about that. It says so much in just couple lines. We are all our own individual person, there is no one else in the world just like you. That is what makes our world so amazing, no two people are the same.

Many times we just want to be like everyone else and blend in with the crowd, but does that make us individuals? We all have our quirky little things that we do. Embrace those things because that are what make you the unique person that you are.

Youtube Video of the Week
Dec. 12, 2011

The Youtube video of the week is a video that I created for the Section 3 T-Shirt contest. The t-shirt design submissions were due on December 9th so this week will be for voting on the best design. There were two designs submitted and only one will come out on top. It is up to YOU on what design gets chosen. Each chapter in Section 3 gets one vote. I would prefer if that vote comes from the Chapter Advisor or the Chapter President. Please send your vote to my email, bguza@wisconsinffa.org on or before December 16th. The design with the most votes will be announced next week and the chapter that submitted the winning design will receive five free t-shirts. Everyone in the section will be able to order the winning shirt. After a winner is chosen, the cost will be determined and order forms will be sent out to each chapter.

You can see the two submitted designs at the URL below. Just copy and paste it into your address bar. The only way to access this video is through this link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWRrH7IO6wI

Beginning of December Adventures
Dec. 09, 2011

The State Officer Team has been busy this past week. On Saturday, December 3 we headed down to Wisconsin Dells for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Annual Meeting. Our main jobs at the meeting was to be the timekeepers for the discussion meet competition, man the Wisconsin FFA booth, and have some fun. It was cool to see the discussion meet with such a high caliber of participants. I had the opportunity to talk to many people over the two days that we were there, some were past state officers from back in the day, others were young farmers, and everywhere in between. While in Wisconsin Dells at the Kalahari, we were able to take advantage of the waterpark and have a little bit of fun. Overall, I really enjoyed the WFBF Annual Meeting.

From Wisconsin Dells, we headed up to Marshfield for our December meeting. There we were able to work with a leadership trainer to help us develop keynote speech skills, talk about our journeys during chapter visits, plan for the upcoming Half-Time Conference, and even talk about State Convention. The December meeting marks the halfway point for our year as state officers. The four days in Marshfield were very busy but we accomplished a lot and I am looking forward to the rest of the year.

-Brian

The Fabulous Five
Dec. 02, 2011

These past two weeks I wrapped up almost all of my chapter visits. Before Thanksgiving I went to Holmen, and this week I went to Sparta, G-E-T, Whitehall, and Cashton. All of these visits were fabulous and a great way to finish up chapter visits.

Holmen is an awesome chapter. They have block scheduling so it was nice to be with a group of students for a long time, there is a much larger connection with the students that way. Many FFA members came in over lunch to get pie and ice cream and also meet me. The officer team here is great and I enjoyed coming to their chapter FFA meeting that evening.

At Sparta, it was nice to have the chapter president with me all day to see me present and help with the classes. One of the things that I really enjoyed at Sparta was when I had the opportunity to go to the High Point Charter School and learn about what they do there. Mr. Schauf is one of the leaders of the charter school and he is a previous FFA advisor at Sparta. There are a few FFA members at the school and it was neat to see a different learning environment.

G-E-T was another great day. They have block scheduling here too, so again it was nice to really able to connect with students through those longer classes. All of the classes were great and the students were very respectful. I was able to talk at an FFA meeting the day that I was there so that was really cool.

Whitehall was a really nice visit. Whitehall is my closest visit besides my home chapter, so I knew quite a few of the members here. The classes here were very good and everybody had a lot of fun. There was an officer meeting during the day, it was cool to see how they run everything and to hear about what their future plans are. I enjoyed my time at Whitehall and look forward to coming back during FFA week for a leadership workshop.

Cashton rounded out the week and this visit was a lot of fun. "Charades" was a huge hit here with entire classes laughing and even some tears fell due to laughing so hard. Many of the students asked me about my wrestling career, which was a first for chapter visits. This was a good visit to wrap up the week.

I do have one more chapter to visit and that chapter is Lincoln ACHM. Mr. Steve Boe was just hired as the FFA Advisor there so we are working on setting up a date. This visit will be kind of non-traditional though, because I will not be presenting to ag classes. I will just be presenting to the entire FFA.

I have had a blast at all of my chapter visits and have made many memories. After each day, I sat down and typed up a journal entry about the day so years from now I will be able to look back and remember all of the good times that I had with all of the members. Thank you all for such an amazing experience!

-Brian

Youtube Video of the Week
Nov. 29, 2011

One of Josh Shipp's videos is the Youtube video of the week this week. Josh Shipp spoke at the National FFA Convention in 2010 so that is where I became aware of him. He is a really awesome and goofy guy (you will see this in the video). His story is amazing and he is such an inspiration. I read his book last year and you should check it out if you get a chance. It's called "The Teen's Guide to World Domination." It is a pretty quick and great read. Now onto the video.

This video is about trust and accepting yourself. A few notes about the video:

Three Step Process to Regain Trust
1. Say you are sorry. (Apologize)
2. Let them know you want to earn their trust back and you are willing to prove it.
3. PROVE IT! Be consistent. Don't try to get away with little things behind their back.

Quit comparing yourself to others.

Concentrate on what you do have going for you and not what you don't have going for you. (Utilize your strengths)

It's not about being the best, it's about being YOUR best.

Check out the video at the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWuZYqYFgTA

While you are there, be sure to check out his other videos! They are all great.

-Brian

Quote of the Week
Nov. 26, 2011

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” -Albert Einstein

This quote is a fairly easy one to decipher. You can either live your life not thinking that anything that happens is special, or you can look at everything in your life and realize how special it is and how grateful you are that it has happened. How do you live your life? We too often look at something that has happened and think "oh that is just normal and nothing is special about it." But if we look at every situation as if it is a "miracle", then we will get the most out of life.

Think about some things that are important in your life. Now what if they never happened? What if you never went out for that sport? What if you never would have met that person? What if you never would have gotten involved in FFA? All of these things that happen in our lives are "miracles" because if they would not have happened then our lives may be completely different. I know that if I would have never gotten involved in FFA, I would be an entirely different person because it has impact my life in so many ways.

-Brian

Happy Thanksgiving
Nov. 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Thanksgiving is a time for us to remember what we are thankful for, spend time with family and friends, and eat a whole lot of food. While at a chapter visit recently, one group mentioned how important the little things are and how we need to appreciate them more. Think about those little things in your life that you probably do not appreciate. Think about others that maybe don't have money to have a huge meal today, the people who don't have a home to go to everyday, or even the people that don't have a loving family to see everyday.

Think about those things and then rethink about what you are thankful for. We have so many things that we can be thankful for, even some of these we just take for granted. So, on this Thanksgiving, what are you thankful for?

-Brian

Youtube Video of the Week
Nov. 22, 2011

My blog is going to feature two new parts each week. One of them will be "Youtube Video of the Week" and the other will be "Quote of the Week". So be on the lookout for these two things each week!

The music video for "Sing For Me" by Yellowcard is the Youtube video of the week. This video sends such a powerful message. As with any song, its meaning can be interpreted many different ways. This song was written by the lead singer, Ryan, for his Aunt. Ryan dropped out of college because he wanted to chase his dreams of starting a band. His parents did not support him at all, they had no faith, no hope, that he could become successful that way. His Aunt Stephanie, believed in him and had faith that he could do it! She helped him travel the 3000 miles from Florida to California so he could start his career. Aunt Stephanie was recently diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and it has been extremely tough on his family. As you listen to the song and watch the video, you can see how the lyrics reflect the relationship that Ryan and his Aunt Stephanie have.

There are so many messages that are being sent through this song, below are some of them:

All of us have lost a person that is close to us, it is rough, but you can make it through it. No matter how bad things get, they WILL get better.

If you are not happy, don't wait for change, make the change happen.

Live life. Live for yourself. Don't live to impress others. Do what YOU want to do.

There are many more inspiring messages that are shown in the video and also in the comments below the video. Check out the video at the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkWJTlleSHg

-Brian

Chapter Visits!!
Nov. 19, 2011

It was another great week of chapter visits! I had four of them this week and they were all equally awesome! My visits this week include Tomah MS, Tomah HS, CFC, and Bangor.

On Monday, I had the opportunity to present to six middle school classes. Did they have lots of energy? Oh yes they did! It was an exciting day to say the least. Ms. Lincicum is a past state officer so it was nice to talk with her as well. They definitely have a strong middle school down in Tomah.

I went to the Tomah FFA meeting on Monday night and that was pretty cool. I have only been to a chapter meeting at my home chapter before, so it was interesting to see how another chapter runs it. It was also great to see all of the chapter officers at work! On Tuesday I was at the Tomah High School all day. There was a fairly diverse group of students in the ag classes so that was fun. Tomah is one of the bigger schools in Section 3. They have around 1000 students in the high school! I thoroughly enjoyed my two days in Tomah.

Wednesday, you could find me at the Cochrane-Fountain City High School. This was a really good visit. I know Ms. Jumbeck pretty well and I also knew many of the members here. All of the classes here were awesome and were very well behaved. It was great to see many of the students excited about the activities that I presented. Lunch with the chapter officer team was very good. (They brought in food from a local restaurant.) This chapter does so much, I am excited to see all of their accomplishments when I come to their banquet in the Spring.

On Friday, I made my way down to Bangor. This was only a partial day chapter visit, but that didn't stop it from being awesome! My first class went very well and then we headed up to a local restaurant for some lunch. I had the "Sticks & Stones Burger." It was a half pound cheeseburger with mozzarella sticks and cheese curds on top. It was really good. Then we headed back for a couple more classes. Bangor does some great things and they even made the cover of a Land O' Lakes magazine for the community garden that they have!

Another great week is in the books! Next week I only have one chapter visit and that is in Holmen. I am looking forward to some relaxation and family time over the Thanksgiving break.

-Brian

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