WE DELIVER

Rio de Janeiro, Singapore,

Hong Kong, Manila, and ports of

call in

between. Why wait a lifetime

to

see the world, when the Navy makes you a world traveler

right

from the

start.

And while we're moving you around the world,

we'll

also

be moving you up

in

the world. Top Navy training in a highly technical

field

of your choice can give

you a headstart on a career

you'll fe^ve

the

rest of

your

life.

m A chance

to

see the world.

And a world of experience.

If

you're looking

for

a job that can

promise you ^a

^lot

more than

just

a paycheck, see your

local

^avy recruiter or

call toll-free

^K)-32Z-^AVY,.,,

^,

.MmHM'^'!»«0»mm^imi»m-f

IT'S NOf JUST ^il

zim^S^'s^- -2«!?^

r>r

-t3§*c::

IM

WCP

(Conlinuedfrom Page16) Infonnal Sessions

Unlike a classroom,

WCP

^leadership

training sessions are^splitintogroupsof 25

FFA members

^{or less. Students are} notrequired towear^official

FFA

dressat all times, which gives a

more

informal atmosphere,saysKarla Wheeler, a Miss- ouri native

who

served asa

WCP

coun-

selor in 1984.

"We

wantthe students tolookat

WCP

as being fun but also as a learning experience," says Karla.

Perry Storms, alsoa 1984 counselor, says one of the conference's strongest pointsisthatithelps students^realizewhat

their talents are. "For some, it's the hatching out oftheshyness ortimidness,"

hesays. "Theyrealizethat they'renotso differentthan other peopletheirage."

Perry also says as a result of the conference, "Students

come

to realize they havea responsibility in their

FFA

chapter and asa citizen, because of the thingsthey

come

in contact with during theweek."

Those "things" include sightseeing to several national

monuments,

George Washington's

home

in

Mount

Vernon, the National

FFA

Center

and

^congres-

sional visits with U.S. Senators and Congressmen.

Often throughouttheweek,

FFA mem-

bers are encouraged to use what they have learned at

WCP

^{in their}

home

chapter.

"A

lot of students realize that

Left,

Mark

Herndon,right,

shows

a

WCP

participant

how

tofill outaconference pressrelease.SaysMark:"Thecounselors' roleis

somewhat

likeabigbrother orbig sister."

they need totake this information back

home

and share it with people," says Bruce Kettler, former national officer turned counselor."They

know WCP

isa personal improvement thing, but they alsorealize that theyhave toshare itin orderto benefit others.

"Asaresult,theyhaveagreaterappreci- ation for their family, friends, chapter andadvisorsbackhome."

Mark Herndon

says,"Ithinkthereisa special chemistry that happens at the conference.For

many

itistheirfirsttime

away

from

home,

andtheirfirsttimein the nation's capital.

To make

so

many

friends in such a short while ^is a hard feeling to describe.

"Thestudents

know from

thefirstday thatit'sanopportunitythatwill happen

onlyonce." •••

Computers

(Continuedfrom Page30)

andcomputingserviceforU.S. farmers, ranchersand agribusinessmen.

Tested

By Ag

Teachers

The Ag Ed Network was

designed

and

^testedby vo-agteachers,according to

Roger

Berry,a vo-aginstructor

and

agribusinessconsultant

from Kokomo,

Indiana.

An

advisory committee of24 agricultural educators

and

industry leaders created the "live" textbook concept.

"One

ofthethingswe'vefoundusing this in teaching is that the network bringsalotof "real-world"dataintothe classroom.It'sagreatmotivationdevice."

Mr. Berry teaches at Northwestern High School, Indiana,one of50"pilot schools" selected to review

and

test lessons

on

the

network

prior to September.

"I think it will eventually replace textbooks,"hesays."Even

new

textbooks can

become

out of date withinmonths.

Information

on Ag Ed Network

^is not justhoursold; oftentimesit'sminutes."

Response to the

new

teaching tool, according to

Coleman

Harris,

FFA

executivesecretary, has been excellent.

As many

as500lesson

modules

are

now

available. Lessonscover farm business management, farmproduction planning, marketing farm products, information

management

and

new

technology in agriculture.

FFA

Foundation Support

The

National

FFA

Foundation,Inc., issolicitingbusinessandindustryfinan- cial supporttohelpvo-agdepartments payfortheuse of the system.According to Bernie Staller, executive director of

the Foundation,

FFA's

goal is to have

all500

modules

sponsoredbyindividual companies

—

^a

^commitment

^{of nearly}

$400,000

from

businessandindustry.

"Throughthesponsorship ofthe lesson modules,therewillbe

no

costto selected pilotschoolstoutilizethesystemforthe

firstyear,"says Mr.Staller."Afterthat, itwillbeupto

them

todetermineits(the network)effectiveness."

Each

state winner of the

new Com-

puters in Agriculture

award

earned ^a

$500grantto

make

thenetworkavailable to theirvo-ag department.

HARRIS: "We feel that

utilizing

computer technology

in

the high school vo-ag classroom

is

extremely important

_if

we are to appeal

to

quality

students who have the

abilityto

become

leaders. ^{. .}

"

"Lessonsaresponsoredinbundlesof five each," says Mr. Staller. "Sponsors

will provide the cost of putting the lessons

on

the system,about$4,¹75fora three-yearperiod.This not only puts the lesson

on

the system, but will also maintain and update that lesson for three years."

Dwight

Horkheimer,

FFA's

ag

com-

puter specialist, says, "The

money

a sponsor pays goes toward

making

a lesson available for free. In addition, sponsorsare alsopayingadollar

amount

fortheinitialone-year user costfor

any

pilotschool.

"Pilotschools are only

made

available as the lessonsare sponsored," says Mr.

Horkheimer, a former high school ag instructor.

After a pilot school'sfirst year, Mr.

Stallersays thebasic costof thesystemis

$224per yearfor the

Ag Ed

Network, plusafee forconnect-time.

"We

antici- patethataschoolwhich

would

usethis

system between 13-15 hours of actual connect-time

would

be paying approxi- mately $500peryear,"hesays.

Highschools

must

haveaccesstoany type ofmicrocomputerintheagriculture department, a

modem and

telephone line.

Computer

Literacy

Mr.Berrysays theexperience students get

on

computerswillhelp prepare

them

for their futures.

He

says

many

jobs todayrequire

computer

literacy.

"If

we

are going to keep

up

with

modern

agriculture,

we

have to use

modern

resources,"he says.

"However, Ithink

we

needtokeepin

mind

that the

computer

^is simply a tool," he adds. "It's not

gong

to

make

decisions foryou."

Coleman

Harrissays the

FFA

pursued thenationwide

computer

network con- ceptfor

two

reasons.

"We

need tokeep up-to-date with

modern

agricultural techniques,"heexplains."Secondly,

we

wanttoenhancethe quality

and

quantity ofvo-agenrollment.

"We

feelthat utilizing

computer

tech- nology in the high school vo-ag class-

room

^isextremely importantif

we

are to appealto qualitystudents

who

havethe abilityto

become

leaders in agriculture in this nation,"says Mr. Harris.

Mr. Berryagrees."I thinkoneofthe misconceptions ofthegeneral public is

thatfarmers are backwards or

dumb,"

hesays. "Ifastudentisundecided about goinginto agriculture,

maybe

computers

invo-ag will

show

the sophisticationof

agriculture."

•••

SO TheSational

FVTVRE FARMER

<p^*'

p^

Justin.

^.

.The Sole Of A ^Winner

You'llfindyourselfontopoftheactionthisseasonwhenyou slipintoastylishandcomfortablepair of Justin Lizards.Shownis the ChiliIguanaLizard, Style 8480,withmediumroundtoeand 13-inch Chili calftop.Matchingbelt,Style254F.

LookfortheseandotherfineJustinproductsatyourquality bootstore.

Quality Bootmakers Since 1879

'i

A ^Checklist For Officers: some

tips

that will help you get

Ready To Lead

If

you have been elected, or plan to run for an FFA

office

someday, these words

of

leadership advice may help.

By

Michael Wilson

So

^{you've just been elected to serve}

asan

FFA

officer. Congratulations!

You're

brimming

with confidence,full

ofenthusiasmandenergy,readytolead others on to

FFA

glory. Nothing will stopyou!

You

arereadytolead,aren't you?

As

an officer, you will

make many

important decisions affecting not just yourself, but others around you.

Your

actionscan

mean

the differencebetween success orfailure.

These tips, offered by your 1984 na- tional officers, will help assure success foryou andfuture

FFA

leaders.

Set an example for other

members.

"No

oneeverlosesanyrespect forsome- one

who

^is willingto get in and

do

the small,lessglamorousthings thatneedto be done,"says

Ron

Wineinger, national president.

That is

good

advice foranyone. But

it'sespeciallyimportanttoofficersifthey want others to respect

them

as leaders, saysRon.

CarolIrvine,eastern regionvicepresi- dentsays, "Ifone officerisgoofingoffat ameeting,thenyou canexpectothers to goof off, too. It's an old line, but the chain is only as strong as its weakest

link. If one person isn't doing thejob 52

thenfiveothershavethat

much

morework."

Concentrate

on

your officer duties.

An

officer'sjob can easilybebrokenup

two

^{ways: first,} as an individual with specific duties; second, as part of a

leadershipteam.

If you've been elected reporter,

do

yourbestjobasareporter.Don't

do

the secretary'sjob, too.

By

givingyourbest (Continuedon Page54)

Leadership

...For The Rest Of Us You

^{can also be a leaderwithout}

serving as an officer. "We're all vital to the chapter," says

Melody

Lawson. "Being anofficerisjustone area ofleadership."

Bill

Caraway

agrees. "Before

you

can bea

good

chapterofficer,you've gottobea

good

chapter

member,"

he says.

"And

if

you

don't get elected,

become

abetter

member."

You

can be a leader by simply pursuing your

own

interests invoca- tional agriculture or

FFA.

Ifyou're interested in livestock, tryoutfor the

team

or volunteer yourfarm'sstock forjudgingpractice.

Any

time

you

can

do

somethingto

benefit the chapter, you're being a leader,saysMelody."Ifyou'vefound

what

you'reinterested in, developed

some

skills

and

triedtohelpyounger

members

develop their skiUs, then you'redoingyourpart,"shesays.

Only

a handful of people

become

chapter officers,

and

those

who

are not elected should not

become

dis- couraged.Althoughhe servedaschap- tersecretary asajunior.Bill

Caraway was

defeatedinhisattempt torunfor president as asenior.

He was

never a state officer. In spite of this. Bill

went

on

to win the 1981 national extemporaneouspublicspeaking con-

test, and later

was

elected national

FFA

secretary. •••

TheNotional

FUTLRE FARMER