Update: Wednesday 4/1

 Missouri Ag Ed Family; 

Challenging times to say the least. I believe the best way to keep a positive attitude during difficult times is to keep things in perspective. Even though our Ag Ed world has been turned upside down, we as a profession are being asked to do things we never imagined possible. I think it’s important to reflect on how others are being impacted. Health care workers in cities at the epicenters of the pandemic are being asked to provide life-saving care without the necessary resources to do so. Families in parts of the country have lost family members. Record numbers of Americans are filing for unemployment. No one knows exactly how things will play out over the next several months. We can only hope that closing schools and limiting social contact will lessen the impact of the virus. As a profession we will determine how best to adapt to the challenges we have been given.

NEXT STEPS

State staff is continuing to gather information, monitoring Governor’s directives, CDC recommendations, DHSS recommendations, host site restrictions and student travel restrictions as we plan for upcoming FFA events. Over the next couple of weeks we hope to develop a clearer picture of the situation so more detailed contingencies can be shared.

Update: Thursday 3/19

Teachers,

Now that the dust has settled from making the challenging decision to postpone State Convention we are working to clarify how we are going to move forward not only on State Convention and its related events but on other activities that we expect could be impacted by COVID-19.   State Officer Selection, LEAD, CAMP, AOI, PSA, HYMAX and HYPE are all being discussed.  We anticipate providing you with an update by April 1^st and further updates at least every two weeks as things become clearer. I expect National FFA will be pushing back deadlines as they are having discussions on how to help state associations through this difficult time.

Current Updates:

1. We are planning to hold the remaining Area State Officer interviews virtually.
2. State Officer Finalists Interviews scheduled for April 17 and 18 are postponed.
3. We ask that schools hold onto any payments related to the above activities for now.

Reminder:

1. If you haven’t already done so, I suggest that you begin the process of canceling the hotel rooms that you booked for State FFA Convention.

Update: Saturday 3/14

Ag Ed/FFA Family,

In light of the current health issues and concerns resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19), the State FFA Convention scheduled for April 23 and 24 is being postponed. Ag Ed staff members are working on a contingency plan for the State Convention program, State Leadership Development and State Career Development Events. My recommendation is that you reconsider holding all area and district FFA events involving significant numbers of students. While a variety of factors go into making a decision like this, be assured that the health and safety of our students and stakeholders is always our primary concern.

How is your chapter Living to Serve?

Did your chapter have a service event over the holidays?
Does your chapter have a service event planned for FFA Week?

Be sure to share your impacts as part of the Living to Serve Chapter Challenge to help FFA complete 930,000 volunteer hours by next year’s 93rd National FFA Convention & Expo!

Visit FFA.org/ChallengeAccepted to log service hours, impacts and upload a few photos.  The first Monday of each month National FFA will host a Facebook Live event and draw two (2) chapters to receive exclusive Living to Serve Chapter Challenge t-shirts as well as highlighting projects to inspire others to serve.