was sent to him, Newton filmed himself and a fellow FFA member talking about their stories and role in agriculture. “I wanted to help raise awareness about agriculture,” said Newton.
Andrew Skonieczny and Dania Gomez from the Mattabest, Connecticut chapter are excited to have the chance to share their chapter’s story. “We think it is great!” said Gomez. As reporter for the chapter, Skonieczny is already using video to educate his high school about agriculture. By broadcasting on the high schools new feed, Skoniezny has already been able to reach out to his community and is eager to get started working with America’s Heartland. “We’re gonna make a video now,” said Skonieczny.
What should FFA members do if they are looking to get started on their own video? The first step is to let the crew know of their idea and desire to tell their story by contacting them via Facebook or the America’s Heartland website.
Once the camera arrives, FFA members have one week to shoot their footage. General tips for taping from the makers of America’s Heartland include holding the camera steady, using a
microphone if possible, keeping the lens clean and shooting plenty of extra video. “Really, just have fun with it,” said Bastine.
Advice Ross has for other students making videos is to enlist friends to help and to be genuine.
Shoultz also advises members to really think about telling the story of how they solve problems.
“They [FFA members] are really tomorrow’s problem solvers, and people want to watch,” said Shoultz.
Strength in Action Zone—U.S. Army Booth Helps FFA Members Find Their Strength for the Future
By Dorothy Spencer
The Army Strength In Action Zone at the National FFA Convention Career Show, allows FFA members to test their strength and win prizes while finding out about the many opportunities the Army has to offer.
The Career Show is held in the Indiana Convention Center and features over 300 agricultural businesses, schools and companies. FFA members can find out what career, company or college they might like to check out in the future.
The Army has one of the most interactive exhibits at the show. The booth features a physical fitness challenge section, a marksmen exhibit, the Army Nascar and Indy car, an Army Hummer and a full arena for Army working dog demonstrations. With this many options students are bound to find something of interest.
Sergeant Donte Jones runs one of the physical fitness challenge sections at the Army booth.
According to Sergeant Jones, the physical fitness portion of the exhibit helps students build
confidence—something that is very important for their success in life. The activities in the physical fitness challenge also help students build teamwork and cohesion—both skills they will use over and over. “We’re pushing young people to reach their full potential,” said Jones.
Carl North, an FFA member from North Carolina, participated in the challenge, “It was really fun and exciting!” said North. He completed five pull-ups and also noted that the Army booth was very hands-on and fun. “It gets you pumped!” said North.
Caitlyn Krueger, Amy Meyer and Michelle Meyer did about ten push-ups at the Army booth. All three Minnesota FFA members enjoyed the physical, active and interactive aspects of the Army booth. They also enjoyed the free t-shirts they got for their efforts.
Whether it is through education, personal development or solider training, according to Jones, everything the Army does is to help make students into better citizens. “The only thing limiting students is themselves.” said Jones.
Another point of interest at the army booth is their display featuring the special animal opportunities the Army offers. Helen Loar, is a veterinary technician in the army. Her main responsibilities
include keeping all animal members of the army healthy—just as all human soldiers must be
healthy. Army veterinarians keep track of records, and the health of the dogs in the army. They even deploy when the dogs are deployed. Loar said, “The dogs really become part of the family.”
Dogs in the army help detach dangers and protect officers in the army. Christopher Adams, has been working with Staff Sergeant Mmattias, a six-year-old Duct Sheppard, for about three years.
Adams is in charge of taking care of Mmattias, helping train him, accompanying him overseas, and doing stateside law enforcement for the secret service and on army bases.
Mmattias and other canine army members like him help discover caches and raids. They are also used to complete sweep searches before important people come into an area. Adams also noted that when dogs are seen searching an area, the probability of contraband continuing to be a problem in that area is greatly reduced. Overall, 99% of caches found overseas are discovered by dogs such as Mmattias. “The dog’s capabilities save lives every day,” said Adams. Nothing else has been found that is as efficient or thorough as dogs are, Adams continued. At noon the demonstration of a Mmattis’ skills can be seen at the Army booth.
From the Strength in Action zone FFA members can form a clear picture of all the opportunities that the Army has to offer. They can learn about veterinary opportunities in the army, about
marksmanship, physical fitness, and musical options while seeing it all in a visual and relevant way.
All these qualities shape up to make the Army Strength in Action Zone a stop worth making at the National FFA Agricultural Career Show.
INDIANAPOLIS – AgFirst Farm Credit Bank was honored today at the 82nd National FFA Convention for their contributions in advancing agricultural education. The National FFA
Organization selected the company to be a recipient of the special Distinguished Service Citation.
This award recognizes clubs, agencies and organizations that have greatly contributed to agricultural education and FFA programs.
A representative from AgFirst Farm Credit Bank accepted the award during an onstage presentation at the national FFA convention, held Oct. 21-24 in Indianapolis, Ind. Three Distinguished Service Citations were given this year.
Awards such as the Distinguished Service Citation recognize that FFA makes a greater impact on students through the cooperation of the entire community. FFA and agricultural education
programs have helped millions of students achieve extraordinary success for 82 years because of this remarkable dedication.
AgFirst Farm Credit Bank and its 22 agricultural credit associations is a cooperative lender that provides credit and financially related services to 80,000 customers including farmers, ranchers, other agribusinesses and country homeowners. The bank and its associations support FFA at the local, state and national level, with a total annual contribution of $250,900. The professionals from the bank and credit associations also provide in-kind services by regularly serving on local agricultural
education councils, addressing agricultural education classes and FFA meetings, and providing and staffing educational displays at state agricultural education and FFA conferences.
The National FFA Organization, formerly known as the Future Farmers of America, is a national youth organization of 506,199 student members – all preparing for leadership and careers in the science, business and technology of agriculture – as part of 7,429 local FFA chapters in all 50
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Media Contact: Julie Adams 317-802-4225