NLCSO 2009... Going Live !

It has, for sure, been a LONG TIME since I have had the opportunity to sit down and type ! What a busy past two weeks. But, enough of my jabber, here are my thoughts on the 2009 National Leadership Conference for State Officers !

I left my house @ 2:30 and met with the gang: Mike, Katie, Emily, Crystal, Labecca and the awesome Addington family in Worthington, Minnesota to begin our adventure to Aurora, Nebraska! We arrived in Aurora at 11:00 that night, so it was a long trip, but don't worry each minute was filled with an extremely competitive game of My Cows!
... I was up to 7,607 until I was blindsighted by Emily as she yelled, "Kill Kirby's cows!"

* still contemplating our friendship...

Rest in Peace my cows.... rest in peace.

Nonetheless, the week was spent at The Leadership Center outside of Aurora. http://www.tlcaurora.org/
Nebraska is so lucky to have a facility like that with a 13ft pool, water volleyball, basketball court, ponds for paddleboats, sand volleyball courts, cabins, hotel-style rooms (we got those), and a cooking staff that still makes my mouth water. (the food, not the staff)

State Officers from Kansas, Nebraska and our western neighbors, South Dakota joined the Minnesota team. We weren't just 'there' by ourselves, we were joined by two outstanding National Officers: the Eastern Region Vice-President, Hannah Crossen and the National Secretary, Nessie Early. From my experience with the two for the week, they exceeded my expectations of what it means to be a National Officer and taught me a lot about how to be an effective team member and officer.
Here are some fun things I learned from my friends at NLCSO:

Garrett the State President from Kansas, was one of my room-mates for the week along with Zach and Mike. He qualified for the National Extemporaneous Public Speaking Contest this fall at National Convention ! It was cool to find someone else who shared my passion for speaking on the fly like Garrett and also attended the Washington Leadership Conference.

Dani from Nebraska, shares my same desire to work on an international level with agriculture and teach people new ways to raise their livestock and crops for sustainibility. ( It was a cool moment )

Chelsea from South Dakota, is the most extreme 4-wheeler/dirt-bike rider I have ever met. Her scar story definately tops the puny one on my arm.

Hannah from Ohio, was hoping for a tornado during our week. ... Her wish did come true, and we spent a good 45 mintues in a Conference Room huddled together under a table waiting and hoping and praying for the best. At first I thought it was a joke, or not too serious, so I began doign the "twist", in tribute to the twister. Then things got serious as we were told of the location and direction of the storm, towards Aurora. Covering our heads, we prayed. (This was my FAVORITE memory for the week because it showed how united we were, although from many different backgrounds, that night. Someone just started praying, and everyone joined in. Powerful.) Thankfully, we were all safe from the 1/4 mile wide tornado that ripped through a house, trees and damaged an Iams Food warehouse, but no one was hurt. :)

Sydney from Nebraska, is one of the funniest people I have met and I can't think of a better story teller than her. Sydney would like to become a medical doctor.

Amanda from Nebraska, is a beast on the basketball court. Playing a game of two-on-two with her against Garrett and Zach was to my advantage because she dominated. I can proudly say we one, but it is more like she won.

Brady the State President from South Dakota, is a genuine gentleman and a great guy. I have met few people like Brady that care so much about others, and agriculture.

Nessie from California, is short, sweet and a fan of the Cal Poly team that beat my home town college, SMSU at the NCAA Elite Eight. BOOO! . I remember her from the Minnesota State Convention and how she just sat down with my Crops Team and talked. Nessie is a great leader and example, and she is a part of the motivating force for me to asipre for more beyond state level leadership.

Zach from Kansas, is crazy fun. I honestly felt like it was "friend at first sight" because of the similarities I have with Zach and his enthusiasm. He will be competing at National Convention in the Horse Evaluation CDE, and knows a lot about H2O.

Hannah from Kansas is, just like me, a proud Roman Catholic! Watch out 2009 delegation, because she plans on having an Elephant proficiency award area opened up. Hannah is a lot of fun, and knows how to have fun.

Katie the State President from Nebraska, is a true team player. She shares my love of speech and is memorable, in my book, for her reflection on building.

The time I had this week with the Minnesota Team was definately worthwhile as we worked on finalizing workshops for the State Greenhand Leadership Conference (the next week), made vision and mission statements for or chapter visits in Region I & II, survived a tornado, killed each others cows and (Drum roll please... ) decided the theme for the 2009-2010 year!

Minnesota FFA members, I am proud to announce this years theme is...

...on the next blog!

A big thank you goes out to our NLCSO sponsors: The Monsanto Company, ADM Company, John Deere, Land O' Lakes, Wrangler and The Mosaic Company.

Special thank yous to the representatives from Monsanto and Mosaic for their presentation, and to Wrangler for their donation of a pair of pants!

Timberland Leadership Camp !

Week #1 SUMMER !

What: Timberland Leadership Camp

Location: Sibley State Park: New London, MN

Date: June 1-3, 2009


What a relief it was to leave the high paced MNRER and find my way to the relaxing Sibley State Park, the traditional host of the Timberland Leadership Camp for the Marshall, Tracy and Sleepy Eye FFA Chapters. This was my second year, and it was a tough contest to tell which year was better, but I do know that I met some great FFA members and had a blast myself! I was enthusiastic to know that I would also be joined by my fellow teammates Emily, Crystal and your 2009 MN National Officer Candidate, Katie Zenk, to share the experience and help facilitate activities. This was our very FIRST time presenting and working with students since our election in April, so it was a good time to fine tune our skills and recognize where we can grow. I had the privilege to sit by campfire and listen to the beautiful voice of Kayla from the Tracy FFA Chapter, and roast some delicious marshmallows with Aileen from the Sleepy Eye Chapter. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t quite surpass the quality of Scott, the winner of the “Best Marshmallow Award”, from Sleepy Eye. The single most rewarding experience from camp was watching the openness of campers to get to know each other and create friendships and memories. Here are some awesome, random and fun things I learned from campers:


Brandon from Tracy, or as we call him ‘Schroeder’, has an art of drawing penguins!

Michael from Sleepy Eye is a speed demon in the 300 hurdles and loves gum drop towers!

Tony from Sleepy Eye aspires to become a veterinarian or a teacher. Oh yeah!

Alaina and Sam from Marshall are fearless as they dominated the Ropes Course at the Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center!

Emily from Sauk Centre gave life to the words, “Oh Yeah”, and made Kool-Aid consumption even more enjoyable.

Nate from Sleepy Eye is a dedicated runner, and even took me out for a run before 6:00 am!

Meghan from Marshall may be scared of heights, but she definitely has the guts to put on a frozen t-shirt for her team! (I could not do that …)

Crystal from Howard Lake has a singing voice that you cannot even begin to describe.

Katie from BOLD has given me advice that I will forever have on the inside of my FFA jacket.

We learned what it means to be an FFA member, took on a CDE challenge, set goals and defined our vision for life, challenged ourselves on the ‘Ropes Course’ as well as learning valuable and fun lessons in teamwork. (Thank You, Michelle, for finding the final tennis ball! ) The Banquet Officer Team did an excellent job on running a smooth banquet and handing out appropriate awards for each member present. I had the pleasure of escorting Aileen to the Banquet and she helped me discover how to cut our pork chops with a plastic spoon! After banquet, Mark, Scott and Nate got an “Extreme Make-Over: FACE EDITION” for their talent act I will never forget. What a great way to begin my service as a State Officer, with the members!

I miss everyone at camp, but I don't miss the catepillars, and can’t wait to see ya’ll again!

Finally!

Our State Officer team is officially on the web, for your access, in BLOG form!
I am incredibly excited to keep you all posted on and answer your question of,

What's going on with that FFA guy, Kirby ?

I realize that I have been to a number of events prior to this date, but don't worry because I have been taking note and reflection of my time being mindful to share!

* Note, the whole Blog thing is new, foreign language to me, so I am still fine tuning how I can work with it.*

Week #1 SUMMER !

What: AURI- Minnesota Renewable Energy Roundtable

Location: Mankato, Minnesota

Date: June 1, 2009

My very first week of summer, just the day after I graduated from Marshall Senior High School, I found myself back in gear with State Officer busyness and fun! Monday, I spent my day at the Minnesota Renewable Energy Roundtable hosted at Minnesota State University, Mankato and sponsored by AURI, (Agricultural Utilization Research Institute.)

The MN Renewable Energy Roundtable works to ensure 1) that the State of Minnesota is a recognized leader in renewable energy knowledge, application, and utilization. And 2) to create an implementation platform for moving short and long-term strategic action forward for Minnesotans and its Roundtable Partners.

It was an interesting and enlightening day as I met with those people who have interest and influence in our State’s direction of renewable energy. I was proud to be the only student present among those present! Meeting with members from the ( take a deep breath ) …Minnesota Corn Growers Association, Minnesota Valley Alfalfa Producers, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Windustry, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Minnesota Department of Commerce, MnSCU System, Russell Herder, Minnesota Conservation Corps, Coon Rapids Energy/Environment Demonstration (CREED), College Deans as well as former FFA members to summarize the diversity of those present! Mr.Sawatzke, my faithful Marshall Chapter advisor, and I broke out with a group of representatives from many of the ‘names’ listed above and discussed what we would like to see happen or change in Minnesota. Some exciting and interesting ideas were presented such as creating a “Career Pathway” designed specifically for renewable energy based jobs, like wind and solar power.

I expressed my own ideas on the promotion of renewable energy in the classroom and increased curriculum and courses for High School students. Ultimately, it would be cool to even have a wind turbine or other form of technology on campus for students to interact and learn about! Acknowledging the growing popularity and relevance of “green” collar jobs, we discussed the potential of having our very own Minnesota FFA State CDE based on Renewable Energy! Oh, and we had some delicious food too!

Thank You AURI for making this event possible !

...if you had the money to do whatever you wanted, what aspect of renewable energy would you invest in ?