Lindsay Ag Science

Three Components to Agriculture Education Classroom Instruction FFA SAE (Supervised Agriculture Experience)

Classroom Education “Pathways” All students take : Principals of Ag, Food, and Natural resources Career Technology pathway – “Shop Classes” Animal Science pathway- Livestock Production, Vet Med, Ad Animal Science

FFA FFA activities vary greatly from chapter to chapter, but are based in a well-integrated curriculum. Chapter activities and programs concentrate on three areas of the FFA mission: premier leadership, personal growth and career success. (www.texasffa.org)

Scholarship Opportunities Yes : FFA offers great scholarship opportunities! In fact Texas FFA offers more annual scholarship money than Texas UIL, (Aaron Alejandro: Texas FFA Foundation) Great then lets get every Lindsay kid a huge scholarship! If only it were that easy! There are 110,000 FFA members in Texas, so roughly 25 to 30 thousand seniors annually. Texas FFA offers roughly 200 scholarships annually, less than 1% of Texas FFA seniors will receive a Texas FFA scholarship But don’t get discourage because it is possible!

What does it take Being Well Rounded The Texas FFA uses a scoring rubric to score scholarship applications Grades and ACT/SAT do matter and some require a class rank FFA Activities: beyond the chapter level (page has to be full) Competitions: (rank and advancing post district or area matter) lde, cde, agscience fair, speaking events SAE: (going to lots of shows and doing well in showmanship matter) Community service: recognizable organizations work best (example volunteering with church) Leadership roles beyond chapter help Family Financial need is considered as well Need to have your Lone star degree (highest degree that the Texas FFA offers)

The Process The Texas FFA Scholarship is a process: you first must fill out the application available on www.texasffa.org This application will go through our district degree check before being sent to our area scholarship chairman. The area scholarship committee will review all the applications and select those students that are best qualified based on a points rubric established by Texas FFA. Those top students will be granted a area interview. Students 90 seconds to give a brief introduction to the area interview panel before being questioned (question bank changes from year to year but is available prior) Those students who place highest (application and interview advance to state) Once advancing to State those applications go through a state selection committee. The top applications are then selected and only those receive State interviews. From those interviewed the state selection committee will select Texas FFA scholarship winners.

It is possible John Michael Fuhrman received a Texas FFA scholarship through this process in 2017 (10,000 Richard Walrath ) Alexandria Harrell received a Texas FFA scholarship through this process in 2016. (18,000 Houston livestock show scholarship) Recipients of the HLSSR scholarship are eligible to apply for an additional $16,000 at the end of their sophomore year) Erin Metzler made it through area selection and area interviews to the state process but was not selected for a state interview. To my knowledge: these were the only Lindsay FFA members to receive Texas FFA scholarships through the current process.

Seems like a lot of work, Are there any other opportunities? Thankfully the answer is yes! There are countless scholarship opportunities. Many of which are available through the Texas major stock shows. Each of the stock shows have different opportunities

State Fair State Fair of Texas: The State Fair of Texas offers a $6,000 scholarship and the application process is not quite as intense. There is a online application that students have to fill out, and a place for letters of recommendation. Students have to participate at state fair for at least 2 years (showing animals and placing well carries a lot of weight in the selection process) We have had 3 students in the past two years receive the $6000 scholarship. Laura Wyrick, John Michael Fuhrmann, and Alexandria Harrrell.

Fort Worth Forth Worth has numerous opportunities but those that I am most familiar with are: Calf Scramble: Rodeo calf scramble = $500 certificate to purchase a heifer. Meeting all of the requirements and completing the essay at the end can result in additional scholarship money. John Michael Fuhrman received a $4500 scholarship through this program Beef Superintendent Scholarship competition: This is a competition open to the first 75 seniors that enter. There is a test followed by a 2 minute presentation (finalist only) John Michael Fuhrmann won first and received a $16,000 scholarship in 2017! Alexandria Harrell was a top 10 finalist and received a $8000 scholarship in 2016!

San Antonio Calf Scramble: San Antonio has a calf scramble program as well, however SA will allow students to purchase a breeding gilt as well. John Walker received a $1,200 certificate to purchase a breeding gilt last year. Caleb Martin received a $1,000 certificate towards the purchase of a heifer Breeding Show Scholarship: SA offers a $10,000 scholarship to breed champions in the breeding show. Alexandria Harrell won her breed and received this scholarship

Houston Houston has multiple scholarship opportunities including a calf scramble program. $1,750 Commercial steer competitions and scholarships Houston has a lot of different opportunities and can be found on www.rodeohouston.com Claire Williams received one of those scholarships valued at $36,000

The Secret Is……. The opportunities are there: but you have to show. You have to participate and then apply to be considered YOU have to: Try hard Document everything (record books….) Everything matters and you will need this when filling out scholarship applications

Our FFA Chapter Our FFA chapter is very well rounded Chapter Level: Chapter meetings, chapter awards banquet, community partnerships, farm day, community service projects, fundraising. We attend all district FFA events including: Fall district meeting, district greenhand camp, district LDE contest, district banquet, district degree check, and Lindsay FFA has had a district officer in each of my five years here. We several Area V FFA events including Area V convention, Area V LDE contest (when applicable), Area V CDE contests. We attend state convention each summer

Competitions The major FFA competitions that we compete in are: LDE (leadership development events) Are designed to test FFA knowledge and incorporate speaking and presentation abilities Examples include: Creed Speaking, Job Interview, Quiz team, Ag Advocacy, Ag Issues, Skills etc. CDE (career development events) Are designed to teach and simulate real world careers in agriculture related fields. Examples include: Livestock Judging, Meat Judging, Forages, Dairy Cattle Judging etc. A full list of lde and cde competitions available can be found on www.texasffa.org under the competetions link.

We Need Your Help The opportunities are there…. What are you good at Are you willing to help in training a team LDE CDE Agriscience Fair Public Speaking Event

I want your kids to be successful!