Teachers,

As you have heard by now, we here in Georgia are joining Governor
Sonny Perdue's office to celebrate Ag Week on March 15-20. This
is a great time to celebrate the value of agriculture to our state.The
way that we are encouraging all local agricultural education
programs and FFA chapters to be involved is to present a program
on the "value of agriculture" to local 5th grade students.

As promised, there is a powerpoint presentation available for you
and your FFA members to use. The presentation can be found by
taking the following steps:
        -go to www.agawareness.com
        -click on the Ag Week Media bar (left side)
        -click on AgAwareness Powerpoint and speaker notes

This powerpoint presentation is a guide for you to use. There is a
lot of great information. The key will be presenting it in a manner
that your local 5th graders can absorb it. I encourage you and your
FFA members who are handling the presentation to take the
following steps:
        1) Read over the entire powerpoint several time together.
        2) When sharing state-wide agriculture facts and figures, be
sure to localize them for your county/area to create a sense of
"belonging" with the students.
        3) Divide up speaking parts so that each FFA member on the
committee can focus on their individual part and be fully prepared.
        4) Practice the presentation regularly for a few days before
giving it.
        5) Think of questions that may arise, so that your FFA
members will be prepared to give good answers.
        6) Make your presentation interactive when possible.
        7) Have your students in proper official FFA dress for the
presentation.
        8) Take lots of pictures of the presentation and publicize it's
success on a local and state level. (Be sure to have pictures of
both your FFA members and the 5th grade students.)

Please work out a plan with your local elementary administration to
schedule a presentation sometime during Ag Week for local 5th
graders. Use any time during that week that will allow you to best
maximize your efforts.

Aside from working with your elementary administration, I hope that
you will give serious thought to which FFA members you use to
make your presentation. Form a group/committee and have them
adequately prepared. (Could be useful in a Program of Activities!)

This could be a wonderful opportunity for your chapter, and for the
young students in your school system. By turning these students
on to agriculture, you are improving the general knowledge and
perception of agriculture in your area. You are also making a
positive impact on an age group of students who are about to make
a decision on whether to become FFA members or not.

Thank-you all for everything that you do for agricultural education
and young people. So many of you celebrate agriculture every day,
not just one week a year. While this project will take time, it is also
a wonderful chance for your program to publicly to make an impact.
Best of luck.    -Ben


Ben Lastly
Leadership Program Manager
Georgia FFA Association
316 Poultry Science, UGA
Athens, GA 30605
Phone: (706) 583-0609
Fax: (706) 542-3707