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Welcome to #FFAChat News

Our goal is to provide you with a quick overview of upcoming opportunities through the Minnesota FFA and our partners. If you have events, internships, contests or other information to share, please email it to minnesotaffa@gmail.com.

News You Can Use

Delegate Topics Needed

Want to see a change in Minnesota FFA? Want to represent your chapter at State Convention? This year the delegate process will look differently. We will start with two delegates from each chapter breaking off into 4 committees. These 4 committees will be discussing different topics that have been proposed by chapters. At State Convention, the delegates will discuss these topics, create proposals, and as a large group vote on these proposals. If passed, these proposals will go to the FFA student and adult board and could change our organization. Work with your local chapter to create proposals and send them to minnesotaffa@gmail.com today!

Pictures Wanted!
Do you have pictures from your events this year? Please share them for a chance to see them highlighted throughout the year and at State FFA Convention with minnesotaffa@gmail.com!

Did you host an Agricultural Literacy event? Send us more information at https://form.jotform.com/MNFFA/20agliteracy.

Has your chapter hosted service projects? The Land of Service is awarded to chapters with exceeding hours in service projects. If your chapter has been raking leaves, gathering food for your local food shelter, corn drives or any other type of service project, record and submit your hours into mnffa.org by March 15th. Send us more information at https://form.jotform.com/MNFFA/1920landofservice.

Career and Leadership Opportunities

Leaders Wanted!
It’s that time of year again to look for those who are going to fill our shoes. Running for an office can be the most stressful thing to do but serving as an officer is even more rewarding. Each chapter has a set of officers to plan and conduct chapter activities, while each region has officers to run region activities as well as assisting chapters meet success. Finally, state officers coordinate state activities as well as organizing state convention, while helping chapter and region officers and members meet success. Here are the deadlines for officer applications. It’s never too early to start applying!
Do you know someone who cares about serving Minnesota FFA's members and agriculture students? Encourage them to apply! Application deadlines for region and state office are quickly approaching!

Region I: February 12th
Region II: January 28th
Region III: February 3rd
Region IV: January 28th
Region V: February 5th
Region VI: January 31st
Region VII: February 3rd
Region VIII: January 31st
State Officer: March 1st (https://www.mnffa.org/applications)

AgDiscovery Program
The APHIS branch of USDA is seeking student applicants for its 2020 AgDiscovery Program. AgDiscovery is a summer camp outreach for middle school and high school aged students to explore careers in various agriculture disciplines. The two (or more) week program is based at 20 land grant universities and HBCUs throughout the US. Applications are due March 1^st and can be found at: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/civilrights/agdiscovery/ct_agdiscovery_program

Habits to Own Leadership Conference
This one day conference takes students through creating ripples of leadership in their personal lives. Attendees will learn how to develop action plans for their own lives from every angle in order to create an influence. The focus for this conference will be on building teams through relationship building.

Learn more at: m nffa.org/h2o

Register now at: https://forms.gle/sgMcbzkzTA4Ky2kNA
Registration due March 6. Cost is $30.

State Officer Nominating Committee applicants needed to select the 2020-2021 State Officer team! Nominating Committee members represent the best Minnesota FFA has to offer. The Minnesota FFA's State Officer Team is selected from a dynamic pool of candidates by equally impressive students representing Minnesota FFA members in every region. These Nominating Committee members spend 4 days together throughout the spring preparing to interview and then slate the next team of officers. One person from each region will be selected for the committee. Applicants cannot have a member from their chapter applying for state office. Apply now at: https://www.mnffa.org/nominating-committee. Applications are due February 1.

Apply now to serve as a 2019-2020 Minnesota State FFA Officer! Applications are due March 1 and available at: https://www.mnffa.org/state-officer

Washington Leadership Conference
Limited space remains for the 2020 Washington Leadership Conference. The Minnesota delegation will attend July 14-21.

The WLC curriculum is based on the four tenants ME, WE, DO, and SERVE. Building upon each of these four tenants gets students to the overall objective of the conference which is becoming an engaged citizen who can make a measurable positive difference in their community. The Washington leadership conference is a delicate balance of providing FFA members with a premier leadership experience while exposing them to the rich history that DC has to offer.

Register now at: https://www.mnffa.org/wlc

Save the Date: FFA Day at the Capitol

Each year, FFA members gather at the Minnesota State Capitol in St Paul. Join us on March 3 to share your FFA story and learn more about how Minnesota policy and agriculture work together.

Save the Date:

February 1: State Officer Nominating Committee Application due

March 1: State Officer Application due
National Chapter Award due
March 15: State Band and Chorus Applications due
Land of Service and Ag. Literacy Submissions due

April 15: National Officer Candidate Letter of Intent due
April 19-21: Minnesota FFA Convention in St. Paul/Minneapolis

June 15-19: State Greenhand Leadership Conference
June 27-29 and 30-2: State Leadership Conference for Chapter Leaders

July 20-22: POWER Conference for Region Officers

Check out mnffa.org for more details!

Chapter Opportunities

Join FFA members from across the nation in celebrating National FFA week February 22-29, 2020! National FFA sets this week apart for FFA members to recognize and raise appreciation for the role that FFA plays in our world. By providing agriculture education to youth, FFA is growing tomorrow's agricultural leaders.

Find a great trove of resources, graphics, press releases, radio PSAs, etc. at:

https://ffa.app.box.com/v/FFA-Week-Implementation-Guide
https://www.ffa.org/national-ffa-week/

$400 Day of Service Mini-Grant Available

Day of Service Mini-Grants are available to middle school, high school and alumni chapters to make a difference in your community in one of four focus areas: Community Safety; Hunger, Health and Nutrition; Environmental Responsibility and Community Engagement. Please note: For Day of Service Mini-Grants, when you should apply is determined by the date of your service event. Requirements for event dates have been updated. To learn more and see a full list of the Day of Service Mini-Grant dates, visit the Living to Serve Grants website at www.ffa.org/livingtoserve/grants.

Scholarships

Five FFA All-Stars will be chosen from each state – Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska – to be featured in our FFA All-Stars Magazine. The top standout from each state will receive a $600 Scholarship thanks to First Dakota National Bank & WNAX Radio. Application deadline February 3, 2020.

GROWMARK $1500 Scholarship
The GROWMARK Foundation is once again offering 15 $1,500 scholarship program for students in the United States and Ontario, Canada, pursuing two- or four-year degrees or trade school certification in an agriculture-related field.

Applicants must complete an online application which includes academic information, community service and leadership activities, and essay questions regarding agriculture and cooperatives. Applications will be judged by a panel of agribusiness professionals.

High school seniors or students at any level of higher education may complete the application, which can be found at https://www.growmark.com/about-us/corporate-commitments.

Applications are due by midnight Central Time on April 17, 2020 and recipients will be notified by July 1, 2020.

Have you heard? Minnesota State is gifting nearly 400, $2,500 scholarships to those enrolled in programs for high demand career areas - that includes those pursuing an agricultural degree. Check out http://minnstate.edu/stories/wds to learn more and to apply!

Collegiate Opportunities

New Century Farmer Program
National FFA’s New Century Farmer program is now accepting applications for our 2020 conference; July 12-18 in Des Moines, IA. This fully paid for experience is open to production agriculture young adults between the ages of 18-24. Applicants should have a demonstrated intent to return to a career in production agriculture, or already be engaged in production agriculture. Current college enrollment is not required.

Applicants must be current or former FFA members or current FFA alumni members.

Applications are due March 1, 2020 at 5pm EST. Full information and the application can be found at: https://www.ffa.org/participate/conference/new-century-farmer/