In This Issue: CATA Officer Articles Seasons of Change How to Make Changes to the CATA Organizational Structure CATA Updates Ghosting CATA Governing Board Special Meeting Summary News & Views California Educator: 21st Century CTE Register Your Students for Leadership Conferences California FFA Foundation Chevy Truck Raffle Golden Owl Award Nominations Resource: Food and Agriculture Center for Science Education Results from the 95th National FFA Convention & Expo University of Nevada, Reno Hosts Leaders Conference National FFA News and Updates

Seasons of Change By Gene Lieb, Secondary Division Chair-Elect

This summer, I heard my very first podcast. It was a group of former teachers who shared their perspectives about why teachers are leaving the classroom. A lot of information was covered, but the most interesting comment was, “Before you are buried, your job will be posted.” This reminded me that EVERYONE is replaceable, and we must each follow our own path. Prior to hearing the podcast, I had made a challenging personal decision to step away from a role I had served in for eight years—being the lead FFA Advisor. The program was handed off to an extremely capable teacher. I know some people wondered what I was doing, but it was time for me to challenge myself. I think that we easily become stale in the way we do things and the creativity we provide. The tank wasn’t empty, but it certainly wasn’t full either. I started to ask myself a few questions: Why does giving up a position feel like you’re giving up a part of who you are? What is the rationale behind doing the job forever? I decided that it was time to let someone else challenge themselves and for me to take on other opportunities.

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How to Make Changes to the CATA Organizational Structure By John Williams, President-Elect

The CATA organizational structure is founded upon a set of written documents that are used as the guiding principles for members, officers, and the CATA office. The bylaws and operating policies direct the organization to complete work that is needed to be done, for the good of the members. They are living documents which are open for change as society and our industry changes through the years. The purpose of this article is to summarize these documents, inform members about where they are located, and review the process of altering the documents. Additionally, I will briefly explain the state leadership structure, as it is important to have a basic understanding of how the foundational components of our organization are interconnected.  Leadership The leadership structure is broken down into separate divisions and committees. The CATA Governing Board is an ensemble of elected representatives from throughout the state. The board consists of the state officers, region presidents, division chairs, and chair-elects. There are three scheduled meetings for the governing board: one in January, and pre-conference and post-conference meetings in June. The role of the governing board is to set policies, plan summer conference, assist with organizational needs, represent membership, and disseminate information to regions and sections. The governing board is the glue that holds our organization together since every region has a voice on the board, and it is a true representation of members.  CONTINUE READING Ghosting  By Matt Patton, Executive Director Most ag teachers can regale numerous stories of alarm malfunctions, suspensions, car troubles, groundings, or proms that resulted in a no-show for van loading the morning of an FFA field day. Things come up at the last minute that no one can control—that is a fact. The same ag teachers can also tell stories about Career Development Event (CDE) teams that have imploded weeks before an event. In these cases, notifying field day hosts of an absence is the sensible and professional thing to do.  On average, four to five CDE teams never arrive on competition day for most contests. An informal survey of contest hosts, including Chico State, Modesto Junior College, Reedley College, and Fresno State, revealed that no-shows regularly occur at FFA field days. These absences often include impacted state qualifying contests with extensive waiting lists. Impacted Contests  There have been numerous discussions in ag education during the last few years about impacted contests and access to qualifying contests for FFA members. There is frequent frustration with the inability to access contests, specifically state finals qualifying contests. These frustrations center around the adverse effects on students, who are reasonably disappointed when they can't compete. READ MORE CATA Governing Board Special Meeting Summary By Matt Patton, Executive Director The CATA Governing Board held a special meeting on November 1, 2022 to address concerns brought forth by some members. The concerns centered around middle school/junior high students' participation in state finals contests or qualifying competitions. After discussing the concerns brought forward, the governing board focused on the recently amended “Part IV. Student/Advisor Participation, Section A, Sub-Section A-3,” listed below.  Section A. Each student entering a competitive contest MUST: A-3 Be enrolled at a high school or middle school/Jr. high AND taking course(s) receiving high school graduation credit. The amendment adopted at the 2022 CATA Summer Conference inserted “middle school/junior high” into A-3 but failed to address the contradictory second part of the sentence. The governing board referenced the following portions of the CATA Curricular Code (CC) General Rules in discussing A-3: CATA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES CODE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP CONTESTS PART IV. Student/Advisor Participation  Section A. Each student entering a competitive contest MUST: A-3 Be enrolled at a high school or middle school/Jr. high AND taking course(s) receiving high school graduation credit. PART. VIII. Corrections in Code Section A. Typographical errors, misspellings and/or omissions can be changed or corrected on a yearly basis. Any changes should be submitted to the State CATA Executive Director, who will contact the State FFA Advisor. A memo will be sent out to notify the membership.  CATA OPERATING POLICIES Line of Authority/Responsibility  B. The governing board shall adopt policies and procedures that represent the interests and desires of the membership.  C. The State CATA President has responsibility for assuring that approved policies and procedures are implemented. The president must consult with the executive committee if deviations from adopted policies are deemed necessary. Such deviations should be judiciously exercised and considered as one-time exceptions, not as formal policy of procedure deviations.  The CATA Governing Board unanimously passed a motion to direct the CATA Executive Director to make corrections to A-3 to eliminate the contradiction. The board's rationale for changing A-3 was to reflect the intentions of the membership that voted on the A-3 amendment. The governing board referenced the "Line of Authority/Responsibility" section of the CC when discussing the action. The board deemed that the language in the second portion of A-3 was an omission and should be addressed using the “PART. VIII Corrections” in Code Section A of the General Rules of the CC.  Because of the motion, A-3 of the General Rules portion of the curricular code will now read as: Be enrolled at a high school, taking course(s) receiving high school graduation credit, or be enrolled in middle school/junior high school taking classes eligible for promotion.  The State FFA Advisor was notified of the correction to the code and this article will serve as notification to the CATA membership about the change.

California Educator: 21st Century CTE How has career technical education evolved to prepare all students to be successful in the future? This article, published by the California Teachers Association, examines current trends in career technical education and the need for more CTE educators.  Today’s CTE is considered a pathway for students not only entering the workforce after graduation, but for those who plan on attending trade schools, two-year colleges for certificate programs, and four-year universities. CTE is considered a stepping stone to higher education—and an avenue for students to hold jobs in their field while attending college. Read more here: https://www.cta.org/educator/posts/21st-century-cte

Register Your Students for Leadership Conferences

Now is the time to submit registrations for California FFA’s Made for Excellence (MFE) and Advanced Leadership Academy (ALA), and applications for Sacramento Leadership Experience (SLE). MFE and ALA: These two-day conferences are designed to engage sophomore (MFE) and junior (ALA) FFA members at their respective levels. MFE participants will spend the weekend learning about their personal values and understanding how to connect with others, while ALA participants will discover how to work with others and accomplish a shared goal. Registration is $100 per student, and the postmark deadline is December 19, 2022.  Conference dates and locations. SLE: This statewide conference allows high school seniors to step into the role of one of California's State Legislators. Participants are assigned a specific California legislative district and spend four days in Sacramento. SLE focuses on the role of government, agricultural policy, and advocacy. Applications are open and due December 15, 2022. More information about SLE.  To learn more about California FFA's integrated leadership development conferences, click here.

California FFA Foundation Chevy Truck Raffle

Win a beautifully maintained classic 1952 Chevy truck! Now, thanks to a generous donation from American AgCredit, you have an opportunity to own a piece of American history. The California FFA Foundation is selling raffle tickets ($100 each) at upcoming industry events including: Blue Diamond Growers Annual Meeting - Modesto (Nov. 16) California Farm Bureau Annual Meeting - Monterey (Dec. 3) The Almond Conference - Sacramento (Dec. 6-8) World Ag Expo - Tulare (Feb. 14-16) You can also request tickets by completing this form. Tickets cannot be sold online. The drawing will take place during the 95th Annual State FFA Leadership Conference, March 16-19, 2023, in Ontario, California. You must be 18 or older to purchase a ticket and do not need to be present to win. For complete raffle rules, view the official terms and conditions.  Learn more by visiting www.calaged.org/truckraffle.

Golden Owl Award Nominations

The Golden Owl Award Program, sponsored by Nationwide, is designed to recognize teachers who go above and beyond to provide opportunities for their students and their chapter to grow and improve. Students, fellow teachers, and other supporters can nominate their favorite agricultural teacher and summarize what makes him or her the best in their state. Nominees can win the distinction of being their state’s Agricultural Educator of the Year and the following prizes:  $500 and an engraved plaque to each regional finalist $3,000 and the coveted Golden Owl Award trophy to each state’s grand prize winner In conjunction with the Golden Owl Award, Nationwide is donating $5,000 to the California FFA Foundation to further support the personal and professional growth of students and teachers.  To nominate an outstanding ag teacher, visit https://form.jotform.com/CaliforniaFFA/2023-golden-owl-award. Nominations close on January 23, 2023.

Resource: Food and Agriculture Center for Science Education

Calling all scientists! The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture has launched a first-of-its-kind online platform for K-12 and STEM educators who seek to bring science to life through the lens of agriculture. The website provides science educators with valuable resources and professional development to seamlessly integrate agriculture into all levels of education. Materials available include a full unit on genetics and heredity, a teaching guide on how cattle interact with the ecosystem, and much more. LEARN MORE

Results from the 95th National FFA Convention & Expo

California FFA members represented the Golden State well at this year's National FFA Convention! Highlights include: one American Star Farmer, three National Agricultural Proficiency winners, three National FFA Agriscience Fair winners, and 11 Career and Leadership Development Event teams that were ranked gold. Congratulations to everyone who competed in Indianapolis! Click here to see a complete listing of all California's results.

University of Nevada, Reno Hosts Leaders Conference

The Collegiate Agriculture Leaders (CAL) Conference was hosted by the Agriculture, Veterinary, and Rangeland Sciences department (AVRS) of the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology, and Natural Resources at University Nevada, Reno (UNR) from October 7-8, 2022. This was the first year the university has offered the CAL conference since 2019. UNR was selected to host the conference by the California Community College Student Leadership Committee at the CATA conference in June. The theme of this year’s conference was, “Agriculture in a Waterless Future.” The two-day program started with keynote speaker, veterinarian, and rancher, J.J. Goicoechea, who shared his experience in community service and agricultural leadership. Participants toured the school’s AVRS programs—Main Station Ranch, Wolf Pack Meats, and the Desert Farming Initiative. In addition, more than 100 participants were treated to a tailgate BBQ and Wolfpack football game. For more information on AVRS, visit www.unr.edu/avrs.

National FFA News and Updates Compiled by Jason Ferreira, Hanford High School Ag Teacher and National FFA Teacher Ambassador

National FFA Scholarships Available Last year, 840 students from 43 states were awarded more than $1.6 million through the National FFA Foundation’s scholarship program. Scholarships are awarded annually to students with a variety of higher education plans and career goals, and are available to support FFA high school seniors and collegiate members. Only one application is needed to be considered for many scholarship opportunities.  The 2023 scholarship application will be available through the FFA online scholarship portal from November 1, 2022 to January 12, 2023.

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