Ohio ag instructor attends national conference</p><p>
CASSTOWN, Ohio — Marie Carity, the agricultural education instructor at Miami East High School, recently attended the National Conventions of the National Association of Agricultural Educators and Association of Career Technology Education in Las Vegas, Nev.
While in Las Vegas, Carity was a voting delegate for the Ohio Association of Agricultural Educators and attended regional and committee meetings. She also attended professional development workshops on Agriscience-related topics. Carity visited the Association of Career and Technology Education’s Partners Expo, where she viewed new curriculum and other hands-on teaching materials.</p><p>
The agricultural education program at Miami East High School is a satellite of the Miami Valley Career Technology Center.</p><p>
Vectren helps fund sound system for Madison County Fairgrounds</p><p>
ALEXANDRIA, Ind. — The Vectren Foundation awarded a grant in the amount of $2,000 to the Madison County 4-H Association to help fund a new sound system for their Farm Bureau/4-H Building in Alexandria, Ind.</p><p>
This project included speakers installed throughout the building and a dedicated sound system to be used for Purdue University Cooperative Extension programming and 4-H events such as the Madison County 4-H Fair. This system will not only be used for enhancing the educational efforts of agencies using the facility, but will provide a way to inform occupants of the building regarding emergency situations while the building is in use. The grant was awarded to the Madison County 4-H Association on Nov. 29, 2007 by Anna Christina Rouse, project coordinator, Vectren Energy Delivery and accepted by Steve Sumner, Madison County 4-H Association past president. Other contributors to the project were: Madison County Farm Bureau, Inc., Madison County Extension Homemakers, and Madison County Ag Day Committee.</p><p>
Kentucky 4-H, FFA join forces at conference </p><p>
LEXINGTON, Ky. — 4-H and FFA youths from across the state joined forces to learn leadership skills from University of Kentucky College of Agriculture students during the UK LEADership Conference.
“Most of the youth are in grades 10 to 12, and this is their first experience with leadership training,” said Jason Headrick, UK director for student relations for agriculture. “The goal is to get them on campus and show what College of Agriculture students are doing.”</p><p>
The conference was formerly the FFA LEAD Conference, but 4-H’ers were invited to participate this year. Headrick said as far as he knows, this was the first leadership conference in the college, and possibly the nation, to ever join the two organizations. He eventually hopes to invite students in Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) to participate. Bryan Hains, UK assistant professor of agriculture education, was the conference’s guest speaker. </p><p>
He discussed the many career and leadership opportunities available through the College of Agriculture and encouraged those who do not have a traditional farming background to explore the agriculture field. Growing up in an urban area near Denver, Colo., Hains did not have a traditional farming background. He developed his passion for agriculture when he joined FFA after his family moved to rural, eastern Colorado. </p><p>
“Students need to be serious about their education and know they’re going to leave UK receiving one of the highest qualities of education that they can achieve,” Hains said. “And they have a support network that won’t allow them to fail by themselves—that includes faculty and staff.”</p><p>
Youth attended workshops that focused on leadership, college planning, goal setting and effective community service. Most of the workshops were led by College of Agriculture students.</p><p>
Emily London, a sophomore public service and leadership major from Barren County, said she hoped conference participants learn something from the conference. A former state FFA officer, this was London’s second year for attending the conference. She was one of three students that gave a workshop on how to conduct a meeting using parliamentary procedure.</p><p>
“It’s about premier leadership and personal growth, and it taught me those two keys things,” London said of her FFA experience during high school.</p><p>

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