The State Ag Communications CDE will be held at Newton County High School on
March 18 in Covington, GA. The event will start promptly at 9am. Driving
directions from the FFA / FCCLA Center will be email to participants at a
later date.

Contestants will take a 25 question communications quiz, an editing test,
and then compete in their individual practicums. Many changes have occurred
to this CDE from years past, please become very familiar with the new rules.

In order to simulate the National FFA Ag Communication CDE, we will be
making some MAJOR changes this year. Please make the following notes:

1. The team will have 5, not 4, participants, as a web design practicum has
been added.

2. Students participating in the Graphic Design practicum will not use graph
paper or dummy layouts. They will be required to use Adobe InDesign software
to create a magazine layout. All requirements for this portion of the
contest will be provided and the students will then be required to place
objects into a layout.

3. Students participating in the Web Design practicum will use Adobe
Dreamweaver software. All components and specifications for this contest
will be provided and the students will be required to place those objects
into a working layout.

4. Since new software is beginning introduced to this contest, 30 minutes
will be added to the Graphic Design and Web Design practicums for a total of
90 minutes. This is a state decision, not National, and will only be valid
for the 2006 state contest.

I understand that these changes are very drastic and a huge learning curve
must happen in order to be competitive. I have been working diligently with
the National Ag Communication CDE Superintendent Dr. Jeff Miller to make
sure all phases of this contest are accurate. For software concerns,
download the free 30 day trial versions from Adobe.com. The tutorials are
very helpful.

W. Justin Sealy
Area Forestry Teacher
South Region Department of Agriculture Education
South Region FFA Alumni Coordinator
GVATA Executive Secretary
229.328.8263