Take it back now, y'all

I have to once again catch up!

Sunday, Oct 17th-- Oasis & Madisonville Park

The Pennyrile Region officer team met to catch up and set plans for their Chapter officer retreat Night coming up soon!

Friday, Oct 29-- Madisonville North Hopkins High School

I had a blast at MNHHS. I got to see a lot of members/friends I haven't seen in a while. Also, Mr. Moore, my former regional advisor and Hopkins Centrals retired advisor was substituting so I got a treat getting to see him.

The groups were huge, which was great! I had great participation as well. As always a record was broken during the orange eating activity. TRAVIS BREWER ate an orange in 19 seconds!!! BUT.. it's not over yet. He was determined to beat that time. The next time he came in he tried again.. 12 SECONDS!!! I've never seen someone inhale an orange so fast in my life! Aside from that Madisonville has a great group and has a bright future ahead of them with new teaching staff.

Friday, Nov 5th-- Christian County High School

Well to start the day off there was a meeting before school. I was impressed by the attendance. There is a lot of dedication in the CCHS chapter. It's not every chapter you have members that will get up early and come before school. I first want to commend them for that. They are also working very hard to help us achieve our state goals.

Also, to start off the day I received breakfast from McDonald's courtesy of Mallory Morris. Christian County had one of the most interactive groups I have yet to experience. We had a great time and I truly feel like they members got something from the workshop. I had so much cooperation and had zero problems. Y'all did great guys! Christian is looking strong this year so watch out!

Sunday, Nov 7th-- Tumbleweed

The Pennyrile regional officer team met to make preparations for their CORN (Chapter Officer Retreat Night). We had a good time with some good food and laughs. This team is on their A-Game!


Well that's all.. for a bit, at least.

EMBRACE THE CHALLENGE!!

Audie Cherry
Pennyrile Region State Vice President

National Officer Magic

Did you ever wonder who elected the 6 national officers? I never really thought about it until this summer when I had the opportunity to meet 3 national officers. It was then I realized that there were 9 members who had the chance to meet so many national officer candidates.

After being nominated by a national officer, I had to fill out an application. I was then selected by the 6 national officers out of 48 candidates.

A conference call would be made to the 9 selected for the committee and the adults who would oversee us.

The next 6 weeks would be filled with reading 36 applications. I would also learn the ins and outs of the process in which I would put my complete trust into so we the nominating committee could select the 6 best to serve our organization as the National Officers. Eventually I would learn each of these candidates and feel like I had known them forever.

When it was time to drive to Indianapolis on Thursday Oct. 14, 2010 I was so excited. I felt unprepared, but that's why we had 3 days of training before interviews started. On Friday morning I met the other committee members and training began. I retained so much information in those 3 days, because I wanted to find the 6 BEST, to serve for our organization.

Then, Sunday night rolled around, which was the first time we were actually able to meet the candidates and put faces to names. We began to learn more and more about these candidates and the process had began. The real process, the interviews started Monday morning at 7. We were excited and nervous. I can't imagine how the candidates felt, because we felt like we were about to be judged.

Round 1 was on Monday, Round 2 was on Tuesday. Then the cut would be made on Tuesday night. We all felt horrible, because we weren't going to get to know half of the candidates. The group was narrowed down from 36 to 19. Round 3 and 4 were held on Wednesday. That night after interviews we had our casual activity. We went and ate and went bowling with the candidates, and it just gave us a real chance to see how these candidates intereacted outside of the interview room. The last and final round was held on Thursday morning, and it was becoming more real to us that during that night we would hold the biggest secret.

After making our decision we were seculded and we were to keep the biggest secret of our life, until it was announced on Saturday afternoon. Friday afternoon, we, the nominating committee, watched the National Officer jackets be made, that was one of the most amazing feelings ever. As I pressed start on the name of a jacket, it had officially sank in that I had a part in helping our organization.

Friday couldn't have gone by any slower, I was anxiously awaiting the moment when my secret would be public knowledge. And then the moment came, and I was nervous, and sick to my stomach. Again I can't imagine how the candidates felt, because I knew who the officers were but I felt like I was waiting for my name to be called.

Then the moment came when all 6 names had been called and I watched the other 30 candidates cry as their dream had been reached by others. Then I watched the 6 on stage who had reached their dream. The reactions were the same, shock, some had been heartbroken and some cried tears of joy. My heartbroke as I watched those who weren't selected because I knew how great of people they were. I remembered so many people telling me I wasn't ruining their dreams, I was helping them take a step towards where they needed to be.

Since Convention, I have been able to keep in touch with the retired national officers, the nominating committee, the candidates who weren't elected and the new national officer team. I have gained so many amazing friends, who help me daily and I'm so thankful for that. I am so thankful for the opportunity that was given to me, and for having the supporting teammates who allowed me to take time away from them so I could serve in this way.

And that's the magic of the National Officers and how they get there!

Gabrielle Burgess

Barren River State Vice-President

"Embrace the Challenge"

Chapter Visits and CORN!

Hey guys! I would first like to remind everyone in the Purchase Region that there will be a Chapter Officer Retreat Night(CORN) at Graves County High School this Tuesday, November 16th from 4:30 to 7:00. There WILL be Pizza ordered and entry costs $5:00 a person. The goal of CORN is to bring all chapter officers in the Purchase Region together for a night of mingiling, fun, and leadership activities! Its gonna be a BLAST so I hope everyone who wants to come will! I will be present as well as Audie Cherry too so if there are ANY questions you have you can contact me, Jake Adair at 270-994-6181 or Mr. Howard from Graves County at 705-7318.
On the other side of the spectrum Chapter visits, hay rides and bonfires have been keepin me pretty busy! Calloway, Carlslile, Hickman, and Marshall have had me come down so far, and the books are gettin full with everyone else as well! Just want to say to you, the members, that YOU GUYS ROCK! I have had AWESOME participation in the games weve played in the workshops and your enthusiasm is AMAZING! So keep up the good work guys! Ill be around to the rest of the region ASAP!

Jake Adair
Purchase Region Vice President,
Kentucky FFA

National Convention 2010!

It was a JAM PACKED week for the State Officers (plus our 2 additional delegates, Ali Higgs from Western Hills FFA and Stephanie Jackson from Central Hardin FFA)!! We got to participate in committee meetings discussing issues facing our organization, attend every amazing session, see hundreds of Kentucky jackets walking around Indy, congratulate winners at the annual Kentucky breakfast Friday morning, watch 143 KY FFA members receive their American degrees, and watch six new National Officers be installed! Barren River Region State Vice President, Gabrielle Burgess, received the HUGE honor of serving on the national nominating committee to choose the slate of national officers for 2010-2011 and I got to help represent Kentucky in the Ag Sales CDE. It was definitely an exciting week for everybody!

Here's a look at some more of the successes at the convention:

We had 8 national proficiency finalists and 2 winners, Aaron Wheeler from LaRue County and Justin Goodlett from Spencer County.

Courtney Cox from Spencer County and Ashly Jones from Bell County were chosen as two of ten National Agri-Entrepreneurship Winners.

Spencer County FFA was chosen as the National Winner in Model of Innovation - Student Development.

James Lyons was chosen as a National Star Farmer Finalist.

Jared Hodskins was chosen as a National Star in Agribusiness Finalist.

As you can see, Kentucky was VERY well represented at National Convention! Congratulations to all of these amazing chapters and members, but this is only a partial list! Be looking for CDE results soon!

Kevin Herndon

State Sentinel

Wait.. WHICH Campus?!

Today, I went for a visit in Muhlenberg County. For those of you who did not know the two schools merged and what used to be North and South are now East and West campus. Needless to say I was confused, but thanks to Mrs. Oates I figured out that East is the old South and West is the old North. However.. That did not help me when it came to finding the school. Muhlenberg South was still in my GPS since the school merger is only a year old. That would have been fine, EXCEPT my GPS still didn't take me there so I typed in the address.. still nothing. After a little driving around and awkward turnarounds in front of people I finally made it!

Boy, it was worth it! Muhlenberg freshman and sophomores have a bright future. There were FIVE classes with freshmen (Oates-3, Benton-2) that I talked to for a total of four workshops (one was two classes combined). I also got to hang out with some of the officers in my down time. Because of the two-campus set up, each campus has a set of officers. This is very unique and I believe will help build stronger leaders by getting them started off early. With early leadership there is no telling how far these students can go!

EMBRACE THE CHALLENGE!!!


Audie Cherry
Pennyrile Region State Vice-President

Let's Rewind..

.. I'm a little behind.

Bear with me and try not to get too bored.. I'll try to keep it interesting. ;)

1. September 10th.. Racer Roundup
Racer Roundup is an annual Murray State Collegiate FFA fundraiser in which we put on workshops for students from all over in the FFA. We brought in students from Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky.. and I'm not for sure, but I believe we had a record attendance.


Jake Adair and I presented a workshop on "Replay," since the whole conference was iPod/iPhone based. In our workshop we discussed the importance of not getting stuck in the motions (on replay) and stepping up. We had loads of fun and I have a feeling that NO ONE will forget the WINDSHIELD WIPER DANCE!!!

2. September 15th.. Caldwell County.
This was my first official freshman chapter visit with a workshop. I discussed with them the importance of motivation. Through this I got to experience, for the first time, an orange being eaten like an apple! Overall, it went over really well and the group at Caldwell was very good. They have a great freshman group coming on and I look forward to seeing what they bring KY FFA in the future!

I also got to go with CCHS FFA president, Kirstie Willis to KFB where I got confused at the downtown roundabout and made an extra circle around the courthouse :/

While eating lunch at McDonald's I talked to an elderly man who was a member of the FFA back in the early 60's we had a great conversation. It is so awesome finding people at random who, through the FFA, you have so much in common with!

I can't forget the quote by Mr. York... I was asked, "What is your favorite color?" Well apparently my answer is wrong.. York informed me that, "It depends, what color are your eyes?"

3. ROAR--REFER TO GABRIELLE'S POST :)
PS: Special thanks to Buddy Sledd for all of his help!

4. September 22.. Pennyrile Leadership Conference
PLC is something that the Pennyrile Region puts on every year. This year went over very well.. We set a record attendance! However, because of this unexpected turn out we had last a last minute (day before) emergency.. How can we facilitate this many students in FOUR workshops?! So.. our National FFA Officer Candidate, Buddy Sledd, saved the day and did a combined workshop (about 80-90 students) and BY CHOICE, used no materials. Word on the street... it was awesome!

I asked around and everyone seemed to have a great time and enjoyed the workshops. I have to say.. I have been very impressed with how well our regional officer team has their stuff together. They have already exceeded my expectations.. I am looking forward to seeing the rest of a great year for Pennyrile!

Also, on a side note.. I would just like to point out that it was a long trip for Webster County.. they experienced bus trouble and did not get home until very late.

5. September 24th.. Webster County
Things have changed a little since I went there.. now class rooms, working on a new shop, AND Mr. Hankins now uses a spray bottle to discipline students! Anyhow, it went over very well. I gave two workshops to Hankins' 6th and 7th period Principles of Ag classes. The students were VERY energetic in the activities (that's what I wanted). The students, no bias, have great potential and I look for nothing but great things from these young members.

6. September 30th.. Trigg County
Well.. like every other visit so far.. I have had a record broken. I never thought an orange could have been eaten in 33 seconds. I was shocked, needless to say. The groups at Trigg (two blocks) were very good and without a doubt have a huge and bright future ahead of them. I know I seem to say that for everyone, but the FFA looks bright no matter where I seem to go!

I also got to see the KY Soybean Association video entry (made by Macy Taylor) and it looks very good. I hope everyone is entering the contest and making an effort to promote Ag Literacy, which is one of our goals this year.. Embrace the Challenge!! Let's see what videos you can come up with!

7. Webster Youth Ag Days
I was able to stop by Webster County's Youth Ag Days for a few minutes since it was only about 5 minutes from my house. It was great seeing all of the young fourth graders learning about agriculture and how it affects them. Ag Literacy.. check! Also, two WCHS FFA officer, Dakota Fox and Brittany Major, got to continue the tradition (started last year) of teaching Lawn Mower Safety. Needless to say, Ag Days was a success!


Whew!!! I'm done.. Until next time!


Let's keep working toward our state goals!!!

EMBRACE THE CHALLENGE!!!

Audie Cherry
Pennyrile Region State Vice-President

ROAR 2010 = SUCCESS

Last year when I attended ROAR, I thought how great it would be to step in the state officers' shoes and put such a wonderful conference on. Now, my teammates and I have done so. This year's ROAR was amazing, the state officers and regional officers have come together and we are so much closer than before. After this weekend, I have a feeling some amazing things are going to be happening in Kentucky.

Congratulations to the Lincoln Trail Regional Officers, who won Regional Volleyball, and we are sorry to say that they were defeated by the State Officers.

James "Buddy" Sledd, National Officer Candidate was our key note speaker and he done a wonderful job, and we would like to wish him the best of luck in October as he runs for National Office.

Guys, don't forget the goals that we have set for this year.

1. Shatter the all time membership record of 15,700 members, by attaining 10 more members than your chapter had last year.
2. Improve SAEP
3. 2011 in 2011; Community Service Initiative
4. Promote Ag Literacy

Embrace the Challenge Kentucky FFA and let's make a difference!!


Gabrielle Burgess
Barren River State Vice-President

Livin' On A Prayer

Hey Guys,

Today I went to Christian County High School FFA's Freshman Fun Night.. which is perfectly applicable to me since I'm a freshie once again. I got to meet their new Ag teacher, Mr. Alexander, who took Mr. Hawkins place. He's quite the singer, let me tell you.. and he can dance. ;) I also talked to Mrs. Clark and set up a chapter visit.They had a pretty good set up going on. There was Twister, Guitar Hero, and Wii Dancing (which I am NOT good at). We had a lot of fun. There was a massive group singing of "Livin' On A Prayer" by none other than Jon Bon Jovi. I believe this chapter, with the things already planned, is living on more than just a prayer; they have their stuff together. I'm looking forward to seeing CCHS FFA stand out this year!

KY FFA....
EMBRACE THE CHALLENGE!!!

Audie Cherry
Pennyrile Region State Vice-President

Kentucky Farmers Care – Doing What’s Right for our ANIMALS, for our ENVIRONMENT, and for our CONSUMERS

Hey Guys!

It's that time of year again... time for our youtube contest put on by the Kentucky Soybean Board & Association. Here's a few details.. if you're interested talk to your advisor to get the the full rundown.


Eligibility

Any high school FFA member may submit an entry created by an individual or by a team of two or more members from any Kentucky FFA Chapter.

Objective

The challenge of the contest is to inform and educate a positive message regarding farmers and their commitment to their animals, the environment and consumers. Animals referenced include beef cattle, dairy cattle, poultry and hogs, NOT dogs, cats, rabbits, etc. Video creativity and originality is a must along with factual information. Messaging facts along with additional sources of information are provided within this literature.

What you really wanna know about: PRIZES!

1st Place - $3,000.00 to the student and $3,000.00 to his/her chapter.
2nd Place - $2,000.00 to the student and $2,000.00 to his/her chapter.
3rd Place - $1,000.00 to the student and $1,000.00 to his/her chapter.
4th-10th Place - $100.00 to the student

*If a team places, the prize money will be split equally among the winners. If a county produces more than one winner, the county will only receive one cash award.
*The 1st place winner will no longer be eligible to win future video contests.

So guys, get after it! The deadline is OCTOBER 1st! I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of videos you can come up with. If you have any questions ask your advisor or feel free to contact me at:
audie.cherry@kyffa.org

KENTUCKY FFA
EMBRACE THE CHALLENGE!!!

Audie Cherry
Pennyrile Region State Vice-President

New Team, New Plan

On Monday, August 30th Kentucky FFA's National Officer Candidate, James "Buddy" Sledd and I took a trip to Fulton County's FFA Chapter where Mr. Black was putting on a training day for the officers and committee chairman. Buddy and I were in charge of two workshops for the members, both of which went over great. In our workshops we stressed the idea of teamwork and communication since all 6 officers are new and 9 of the 12 committee chairmen are new.

We had a great time with a TON of laughs, but let me tell you KY FFA, Fulton County has a bright future ahead of them! Mr. Black already has them on the right track and they are pumped about this year. there is not one member out of the whole group that was not outgoing. That will take them a long way. I'm looking forward to what they bring to the table this upcoming year with their new and strong leadership.

EMBRACE THE CHALLENGE!!!

Audie (like Shawty, but Audie) Cherry

Pennyrile Region State Vice-President

Time to Play Catch Up

Okay, so here goes:

On Thursday, July 29th I attended a cookout/pool party at Mr. York's (Caldwell County FFA's Advisor) house. I got to know several officers and committee chairmen. It was an awesome time! Their officer team discussed several goals they have for this upcoming year and let me tell you.. They have a BIG year ahead of them! I'm looking forward to seeing their success.

Tuesday, August 3rd I visited Webster County High School's freshmen Ag Classes. There are lots of outstanding and bright young guys and gals in the two Principles of Agriculture classes there at WCHS. I also discussed with Mr. Hankins and Keri Wright (WCHS FFA Secretary) about their chapter T-shirts. I won't unveil the idea, but it is awesome! I look forward to seeing what the future of Agriculture has in store for these young incoming freshmen.

Wednesday, August 4th I drove to Oldham County for their FFa Chapter's pool party. Kevin, Joenelle and myself all had a wonderful time. We enjoyed dinner at Waffle House with several of the chapter members, and then some. With a new advisor (Mr. Johnson retired) we are expecting great things from this chapter. Finally, after a long night the three of us in attendance crashed at Kevin's house.

Sunday, August 8th I met at Applebees in Madisonville with 4 of the Pennyrile Region's officer team. Those in attendance were Derek Rogers (President), Angela Survant (VP), Brittany Major (Treasurer), and Nicki Seay (Reporter). Also, Mrs. Nolcox was there as well. We had a great meal (of course I ate the most). I discussed several topics with them about the upcoming Pennyrile Leadership Conference on September 22nd at Christian County High School. What little time we spent together and with only 4 officers there we got A LOT knocked out. PLC is already looking good. I can already tell that Pennyrile will be tough this year!


I am planning on getting pictures from the Caldwell Visit up as soon as possible.

Guys, don't hesistate to contact me or another officer if you want us to visit or just simply hang out. We'd love to anytime we can!


EMBRACE THE CHALLENGE!!!

Audie Cherry
Pennyrile Region State Vice-President

A Quick Glimpse...

...into the summer of a sentinel. I'll try to give you the quick rundown of my entire summer. It has been jam packed with trainings, members, and memories! I'm not sure how it will all fit into this blog, but here we go...

June 10, 2010 was a life changing day for myself and the other ten members of the 2010-2011 Kentucky FFA State Officer Team. I screamed, cried, laughed... posed for awkward pictures with people I barely knew. I can't possibly put into words everything I felt that day.

CTSO, Career Technical State Officer Training, was our first true bonding experience as a team. We learned about time management, facebook etiquette, and how to eat properly (Apparently you aren't supposed to give all the peppers in your salad to one person... really, Joenelle had a HUGE pile of peppers!). We survived with only a few injuries... most notable being Lauren's broken ankle. Much thanks goes to Mr. Brandon Davis of John Hardin FFA and Quint Pottinger for heading up this training.

Next... NLCSO! National Leadership Conference for State Officers, lead by Chelsea Doss and Alex Henry, two of our National Officers. We got to meet the state officers of four other states, Missouri, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Illinois (or Illinucky, as we prefer to call ourselves). This was our first crash course in giving workshops and the beginning of our ROAR planning. I can't forget to mention the spirit stick. The picture at the top shows our dress for one of the sessions... we were definitely a sight to see.

After getting about one day at home, it was time to leave for camp! I was lucky enough to be able to attend the 5th week (The best week EVER!) with Logan, Audie, and Alex. Finally getting to meet over 300 FFA members of our state will definitely go down as one of my favorite memories from this year, I'm sure. Highlights of the week include... playing volleyball with Johnson Central Sunday night, Harry Carey at waterball, teaching "the dance" to our classes and workshops (windshield wipers, windshield wipers...), playing pranks on the camp council (and... getting them in return), and watching the staff keep campers in their cabins Thursday night. Needless to say, it was one awesome week!

A few days at home and then it was back to camp for BLAST Off... Building Leaders and Strong Teams of Officers. I promise I'm done with acronyms now. This was our last training of the summer and was delayed by storms in Wisconsin. Yes, storms in Wisconsin. They kept our trainer's flights from leaving on time and he ended up being almost a day late. In the meantime, we got busy picking a theme (Embrace the Challenge!), setting goals for the year, and discussing our strengths as a team. Overall, it was an awesome experience.

Well, that has been our summer in a nutshell. It absolutely flew by! Now I'm ready for state fair, learning to balance FFA and college, and an awesome year of chapter visits!

Kevin Herndon

State Sentinel

Hey guys!

I had my first speaking event today, I spoke at my home chapter, Monroe County High School's Freshmen Orientation. There were several students interested, so I'm pretty excited to find out how many actually join!

Hopefully Monroe County will help us reach our first goal with our membership!

I can't wait to see everybody at State Fair!!


Gabrielle Burgess
Barren River State Vice-President

2011 in 2011

Hey Guys,

As I mentioned earlier, one of our goals for this year is 2011 state wide chapter community service hours in 2011. We believe this is a great way to show people in our community that FFA cares about more than just farming. We care about community development and making a positive difference.

We will be sending out emails with information and logs. Also, come by and see us, or grab one of us, at the state fair where we will have more information on this event.

Guys, hound your advisors to get this going in your chapter.. lets make this a HUGE success this year! We need you all to step up and EMBRACE THE CHALLENGE!

Audie Cherry
Pennyrile Region State Vice President

Embrace the Challenge

Hey Guys,

We just wanted to let everyone know that this year we set our theme as "Embrace the Challenge." You have the power to overcome any thing you set your mind to. No matter the challenge, whether it is within or without the National FFA Organization you have the power to conquer it!

With this year we also have set goals that we want, with the help of you all, to embrace and overcome.

1. Break the all-time membership record.

2. Make Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's) a top priority in the state and increase participation.

3. Promote Agriculture Literacy and partner with commodity groups (Farm Bureau, KY Soybean Association, etc.)

4. Between August 16th and April 15th have two-thousand eleven (2,011 in the year 2011) combined community service hours from all chapters across the state.

These goals cannot be reachable without your help, FFA. Go to your chapter, your advisors, everyone you come in contact with and help us achieve our overall goal of making this the BEST year in the Kentucky FFA history!

Embrace the Challenge, KY FFA!!!


Audie Cherry
Pennyrile Region State Vice-President