Friday, February 25th, 2011
A Capitol Experience!
It has been a busy week for Quanah FFA as we have been celebrating the National FFA Week! As I told you in my last blog, our Senior Chapter Officers traveled to Austin on Monday and Tuesday to participate in the Texas FFA Day at the Capitol. The officers got sit through the House Ag Committee Meeting, where they were recognized by our State Representative, Rick Hardcastle. The students got to see how the committee functions and saw several state agencies making their requests for funding(which was extremely important considering the budget cuts that are coming!). After the committee meeting they had a quick meeting with Rep. Hardcastle, where they talked about the future of Ag. Education in Texas. Next on the agenda was a meeting with State Senator Robert Duncan. Unfortunately the hectic pace of the legislative session caught Senator Duncan in another meeting, so the officers ended up meeting with his staff instead. Much to my surprise, the staff member that the officers met with was Jade Keith, a former Texas FFA State Officer that I worked with while on staff for the Texas FFA Association. Jade filled us in on the status of the upcoming budget cuts, assuring us that the senator was doing his best to make sure education was the last and least to be hit by this session. Jade also told the officers why I’m the only person to call her Wyoming. As she tells it, her parents used to be hippies and so her first name is that of a state that nobody lives in (well, almost nobody).
After the meeting with Senator Duncan’s Staff, we were off to the Capitol Visitors Center for a History Hunt, which was really just questions the students had to answer about each exhibit in the visitors center. Once that was done we were off to tour the capitol with 30 other FFA members from chapters all across the state. The tour was a touch disappointing, as the crowds at the capitol made it hard to get close to the tour guide so that we could hear, not to mention that our guide had a thick Russian accent and sounded like she just learned English that morning!
After the tour, we were off to lunch at Texadelphia, a unique restaurant that puts a twist to your favorite philly cheesesteak sandwhich!
After we were all loaded up on cheeseteak, jalapenos and queso, it was time for our meeting with the Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Todd Staples. The Commissioner welcomed us into his office and told us all about his experiences in FFA serving as a chapter, district, area and State FFA Officer back in the early 80′s. He talked about how his start in politics and how it was his Ag teacher that talked him into running for City Council because of his knowledge of parliamentary procedure! Commissioner Staples served in the Texas House of Representatives and as a state senator before being elected as the Commissioner of Agriculture. He even implied that there might be a campaign for governor in his near future. After talking about the issues facing ag in Texas, the commissioner happily took a photo with the officers and then gave them Texas Department of Agriculture t-shirts and bandanas. The officers all agreed that the best meeting of the day was with the Commissioner!
By this time it was nearing the late afternoon, but we still had one stop to make and that was at the Texas FFA Ford Leadership Center to show the officers the central heartbeat of the Ag. Ed. family and my old office. The Ford Leadership Center houses the offices of the Texas FFA Association, the Texas FFA Foundation, the Vocational Agriculture Teachers Association of Texas and the VATAT Credit Union. The officers met with the Executive Director of the Texas FFA, Mr. Tom Maynard. Mr. Maynard gave the officers a tour of the FFA office and showed them some of the neat artifacts from the early days of the Texas FFA and finished with a tour of the entire building. That tour concluded our day and we pointed the suburban towards home. It was a long day filled with many meetings and plenty of miles walked, but it was an experience the officers said they wouldn’t soon forget.
The officers presenting Rep. Rick Hardcastle with his gift for Honorary Membership into the Quanah FFA!
The Officers with Jade Keith from Senator Duncan's staff, after presenting to her Senator Duncan's Honorary Membership.
Our tour group with the Russian Immigrant
The Officers presenting Commissioner of Agricultre Todd Staples with his Honorary Membership.
Another picture with the Commissioner of Agriculture Todd Staples. Note the veiw of the Capitol from his office!
The officers with the Texas FFA Executive Director Tom Maynard outside the front door of the Texas FFA Ford Leadership Center!
