As agricultural educators, we have all been taught to adapt, change, lead or get out of way at some point in our careers. I look forward to continuing my service as your Region III Vice President in what could be the start of a watershed year in the profession. We are going to see very significant changes in the profession with the retirement of many tenured classroom teachers during the next couple of years. These individuals have not only impacted the classroom but in many cases served in state, regional and national roles of the profession for many years.

Our challenge as state, regional and national leaders will be the continued development of individuals who can convey the importance of agricultural education in a changing world that is based on sound bites, quick responses and solutions. Now is the time to identify those students who should consider a career in our profession. I would encourage you to link to the websites identified below that will provide information on the National Teach Ag Day that is planned for February 25^th, 2010.

Resources are available through the National Teach Ag Day Toolkit and can be obtained at the following links.

Promote

Teach Ag Day Fact Sheet (PDF)
http://www.naae.org/teachag/resources/Tag-Day-factsheet.pdf

Other Teach Ag Day Promotional Tools ? logos, web stickers, other cool stuff

http://www.naae.org/teachag/ag-teachers.php#promote

Celebrate

Teach Ag Day Lesson Ideas, Plans, and Worksheets
http://www.naae.org/teachag/ag-teachers.php

Keep up to Date with Teach Ag Activities

Teach Ag Website? sign up here to join the National Teach Ag Campaign
http://www.naae.org/teachag

Teach Ag Facebook Group
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Teach-Ag/32013454335

Teach Ag Day Community on NAAE?s Communities of Practice
http://naae.ca.uky.edu:8080/clearspace_community/community/teachagday

As a reminder the Region III Summer Conference will be held at the Best Western Hotel and Conference Center in Mankato, MN on June 22-24. More information will be provided from the Minnesota Agricultural Educators as they get the registration link completed.

The start of a brand new school year brings with it the excitement and opportunity to impact the lives of students, however; that impact for Agricultural Education requires all of us to be at our best!  As you prepare for the upcoming year, whether it be at the middle school, secondary, postsecondary or university level or even another arena, never forget that your passion in the classroom will impact student success.

The agriculture industry today is looking to us as a partner to provide students with an understanding of the dynamic careers that await them. I encourage you to look around your communities and actively involve key business leaders in your program as speakers and supporters.

I wish to offer a "thank you" to the state of Nebraska for hosting this year's Region III conference, and look forward to Minnesota hosting the conference in June 2010. I had the opportunity to spend some time at the state summer conferences both in Minnesota and South Dakota during the last month and greatly appreciated their hospitality during my stay. I will be sharing some of my insights from each conference here on my Region III blog. Look for ideas on conference topics in my postings as you start to plan future state conferences.

As a reminder the following items are due by September 1^st.   Each state President and/or Membership coordinator has received these items as email attachments.

State Officer Rosters

Rosters for the 2009-2010 year are due into the NAAE office by September 1^st.

*Professional State Award Applications

Applications are due to NAAE Regional Vice-Presidents by September 1^st.

I wish everyone a great start to a new school year and please don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions regarding NAAE or Region III issues.

164 programs in Minnesota are using CAERT materials.  Shared success at the recent Agricultural Education Summer Conference indicated the following.

During the course of the year, students were tested on a variety of subject matter.  An evaluation of the testing results showed the following when all the questions/ results were compiled.

Of the 29,000 science based questions given during the year, student mastered a 71% correct answer rating.

The questions associated with language arts yield a 78% correct response among students.

Question associated with economics yielded a 75% correct response.

The proof of student success can be measured in many ways.  The CAERT program can is providing a valuable link between the career and technical education and academic standards and benchmarks.

Make Ag Ed and CTE more valuable in your school district by utilizing the tools that provide solid measurements to your supporters!

Congratulations to the Nebraska Agricultural Education Association for hosting an excellent regional conference in Valentine, Nebraska, June 16-18. The fact that 125 members, guests and family members were in attendance is a testament to the value all of you place on our responsibility to the profession.

It was especially nice to see a number of new and young participants at the conference. I challenge each state to double its efforts for next year when we meet in Mankato, MN June 22-24, 2010.

As a reminder, please make sure your Ideas Unlimited state winner has been identified and will be part of the conference professional development activities. I heard many positive comments regarding the time we took to allow each state winner to present his or her idea to the group.

As many of you are in the full swing of county fairs, please take time to recharge your own life batteries. Spend quality time with family and friends during the next several weeks. As July 4th passes, the start of another school year will be upon us more quickly than we realize.

As a special request, please take time to visit with your fellow agricultural educators within your geographical area. It is especially important to help our new and/or returning teachers get off to a great start. As the parent of a new agricultural educator, I obviously have a vested interest to see that all of our new teachers get off to a great start. Make it part of your goals this year to check in with your fellow agricultural educators on a monthly basis.  By checking in occasionally, you can help make sure they don't check out of our profession.

I encourage all of you to visit the NAAE website http://www.naae.org/convention/registration/ to find out how to register for NAAE/ACTE Convention. Early registration ends on July 15^th.

You will find all the details for lodging at the following link. To book your room for the NAAE Convention, November 17-21, either call 615-883-2211 or make your reservations online by going to http://www.naae.org/convention/housing/and following the link provided. When booking your room by phone, you must give NAAE's group reservation code, N-NAAE, to get the NAAE Convention rate.

IF YOU ARE BOOKING 5 OR MORE ROOMS, you MUST call Kristin Childress, Group Reservations manager, at 615-871-6657 to make reservations. You must mention NAAE's group reservation code, N-NAAE, to get the NAAE Convention rate.