Parent/Guardian Introduction to Suffield High School AgriScience and The FFA Information provided by the FAA Family, Friends and Alumni Association

The FFA is a national organization dedicated to preparing members for leadership and careers in the science, business and technology of agriculture. Local, state and national activities and award programs provide opportunities to apply knowledge and skills acquired through agriculture.. F.F.A. used to stand for Future Farmers of America. The F.F.A. has evolved to be referred to as Agricultural Education or Agricultural Science. Motto: Learning To Do, Doing To Learn, Earning To Live, Living to Serve

Contact Info: Suffield Regional Agriscience Center, Office #860-668-3817 http://shs.suffield.org/ Each student is required to join the F.F.A. and encouraged to participate. Yearly dues are paid in September. This provides the student with an official t-shirt, and pays state and national dues .There are also monthly meetings after school.

Official jackets are also available for purchase. The cost of jackets can be dramatically lowered by participating in our Fundraisers in Oct/Nov. If a student needs help with the cost, please contact the Ag Office. There are also Official Dress Grants available from the CT FFA Alumni you can apply for.

Scholarships and Grants

Students, FFA Chapters, and FFA Alumni may apply for or be nominated by their teachers/advisors for many FFA Scholarships and Grants available from FFA Family, CT FFA Alumni, National FFA Alumni, and other sources. Suffield Regional FFA Family Friends & Alumni Association provides scholarships each year for two graduating seniors who have shown excellence in community service and outstanding S.A.E project.

Please have your child ask his/her teachers about these scholarship and grant opportunities available to them!... https://www.ffa.org/programs/grantsandscholarships/Pages/default.aspx https://www.ffa.org/programs/grantsandscholarships/SAEGrants/Pages/default.aspx http://www.ctffaalumni.com https://www.ffa.org/myffa/Pages/ParentsSupporters.aspx

Get Involved with FFA activities and your child's experience To participate and volunteer for activities, events and fund-raising, contact the Suffield Regional F.F.A Family, Friends and Alumni Association. Contact Information Email: [email protected]

Page 1 of 3 Info on Programs, Competitions, and Awards Ceremonies: C.D.E.s (Optional) THESE ARE POSTED ON THE AG BULLETIN BOARD !! Career Development Events. These test the knowledge and abilities of students - both individual and in teams - in 23 major areas of agricultural instruction. Each semester has specific subjects. Some of the events and subjects available; AG Sales, AG Issues, poultry evaluation, dairy foods, livestock evaluation, forestry, floriculture, nursery landscape, and meats evaluation. Students who are interested, practice after school or during school with their specific CDE Advisor/Teacher for the subject chosen. Although all students are encouraged to participate in a CDE, it is an optional part of the Ag Program. There are Fall and Spring CDE’s. Parents may be asked to be judges as needed.

Cram night is the night before the competition. Students stay after school (usually until 8pm), to run through final practices. Parents/Volunteers are needed to assist the teachers in 'grading' their practice run-through of their projects, and help with miscellaneous requests from the teachers as needed during the evening. FFA Family/Alumni may also provide Pizza and drinks for the students.

Usually, about 20-30 students will be there on cram night to practice for the official competitions. The fall C.D.E. Competitions are in November at UConn , and there are spring CDE competitions also. If your child’s team wins their state competition, they compete in the FFA National Convention competitions in October.

SAE’s – (Required) Supervised Agricultural Experience. Learning while doing, applying concepts and principals taught in school. These are based on student interest, may involve exploration, research, experimentation and analysis. Students work with their Ag Advisor to develop an SAE project and portfolio based on one or more SAE categories:

-Entrepreneurship Own and operate an agricultural business (e.g. a lawn care service, a pay-to-fish operation, holiday poinsettia production and sales.) -Placement Get a job or internship on a farm or ranch, at an agriculture-based business, or in a school or factory laboratory. -Research and Experimentation Plan and conduct a scientific experiment. (e.g. Determine whether the phases of the moon affect plant growth, or test and determine the efficacy of different welding methods.) -Exploratory Explore careers in agriculture by attending an agriculture career fair, or creating a report or documentary on the work of a veterinarian.

There is an excellent website for parent info about S.A.E’s. There is a great Powerpoint here on what your child will be doing: https://www.ffa.org/About/WhoWeAre/SAE/Pages/SAEResources.aspx

ASK ABOUT OUR FFA ALUMNI SPONSORED SAE LOANS PROGRAM !! ANNUAL EVENTS: FFA National Convention , October/Nov- Students are selected to attend the National FFA Convention by their faculty advisors, based on their chapter involvement, and level of achievement in CDE competitions. Although the cost of attending is the family's responsibility, several fundraising opportunities exist to help with the expenses. Also, state CDE winners may compete at the regional level during the Big- E.

Greenhand Ceremony , February-

This important event is the induction ceremony into the F.F.A. Freshman take the Greenhand test, and when passed will be part of the induction ceremony in February in the High School Auditorium. Parents and friends should attend this event in the evening at Suffield High School to support your child. This is the night that freshmen get their Blue Jackets.

Awards Banquet/Silent Auction, May - This is the end of the year Awards Ceremony to recap all the CDE, SAE Competition winners, and Excellence in each discipline winners for each grade. FFA Scholarship recipients are announced, and the FFA Student Officers give their end of year speeches. Be involved in our Alumni Silent Auction fundraiser for our grants and scholarships.

Other activities that parents can be involved in:

In September, the FFA Chapter hosts a Welcome Back Picnic for students, family and friends. Order jackets, pay dues, have dinner, have fun!

Also In September, we have a booth at Suffield on the Green.

Fall fundraiser - October – usually Yankee Candle

November – Open House

December is the week long Holiday Sale of student-made wreaths and decorations. There is also a student event such as Ice Skating party.

SAE Night occurs every other year in the spring.

The Ag-Expo occurs every other year in April. The next Ag-Expo is in spring of 2015. Alumni/Parents host the food booths.

Each May is the FFA State Convention, held at one of the Regional Agriscience schools in the state. All students are encouraged to attend.!

We are ALWAYS looking for parents to help chair or be on committees for these events.

http://www.suffieldffafamily.com

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