Thanks to all who participated in the NAAE conference in Las Vegas. Region I was well represented. A huge thanks to the committee chairs and vice chairs for the extraordinary work and
leadership. Congratulations to Ron Nash (FFA Alumni Board) and Shane Sutton (FFA CDE Board) who are new appointees from Region I.

The Region I conference will be held in the Portland, Oregon area April 24-26. The registration and lodging form and information can be found at: http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ag-ed/wrae. If you need additional information please contact Dr. Greg Thompson, Kathy Holmes, or me. Please be sure to bring your state Outstanding Service, Outstanding Cooperation, and Lifetime Achievement applications for judging. State winning NAAE awards applications (OMSP, OPAP, OT, OYM, IU, and TM) are due May 15 to the NAAE office.

As I have made contact with state leaders in education, I’ve learned that most of us are in a crunch. Perkins, state funds and programs are vulnerable. I have personally contacted more state
and national legislators this year than ever before. I would ask you to do the same. Nationally you can use the link on the NAAE website (Capitol Advantage). It is simple to use and gets your
message to the appropriate legislator. The Capitol Advantage program can also be established for your state; if interested, contact Jay Jackman for more information.

I know this is a busy time of the year and I wish you and your students good luck as you fill out applications, write speeches, and prepare for contests. As you complete all your students applications, perhaps it is time to complete one for yourself. Please consider giving yourself some of the credit you deserve. New teachers, there is also an award for you with the new “Teachers Turn the Key” award. All the applications are on the NAAE website.
If I can assist you or your state, please contact me. I urge you to contact your legislators today.

Allan Sulser
(435) 654-0640
Email: allan.sulser@m.wasatch.k12.ut.us.

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Here we are well into a new year. I hope that all of you are well on your way to a great second semester. This is always the busiest time of the year for most of us. It was great to see all of you at our convention in Las Vegas. The convention had to be one of our more successful meetings. You members also rated it very high. Let us start looking forward to the Orlando convention. Thanks to our staff for implementing successful professional meetings for us.

Sarah Osborn Welty did a great job filling in as our president and I have no doubt that she will do an outstanding job this year. Congratulations again to all of the award winners at the convention. You were an awesome group. Also, congratulations to Dr. Bill Hunter of Kansas who was reelected as our Region II Alternate Vice President. Bill, thanks for the great job you are doing.

Congratulations are in order for Roger Teeple who was elected our President-Elect. Don’t forget about our Region II Conference on June 15- 18 in Lawton, OK. If you want to have a great time and enjoy professionalism at its best, then this conference is for you. David Dorrell and the “Oklahoma Gang” are planning for a fantastic conference. We have the Holiday Inn in Lawton as our conference headquarters with the rooms at $50 per night. So bring the family and we will have a great time. Our NAAE President- Elect Roger Teeple will be attending the conference.

The board has been extremely busy-meeting in Lexington, KY February 4-6 and then traveling to Indianapolis, IN for the National Ag Ed Inservice and more board meetings. We drafted a strategic plan for our organization and visited the site of our new home.

Thanks for the great attitude and job that all of you in Region II demonstrate. You know that I appreciate all of you. If I can be of any help to anyone, please feel free to write, call, or email
me.

Larry Long
(580) 225-1222
Email: long@itlnet.net.

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Greetings Region III. It is indeed a pleasure for me to address you as your new Region III Vice President. I am honored to serve you as your board representative for NAAE. Congratulations to Tom Hofmann, your new Region III Alternate Vice President from Nebraska. I would also like to extend congratulations to the Region III award winners at our convention in Las Vegas. The convention was a tremendous opportunity to recognize excellence, attend professional development workshops and tours, and exchange ideas with our colleagues.

I would like to say a special thank you to the North Dakota delegation for all its work with the live auction and to the rest of the region for helping out with the silent auction. The auction generated over $3,600 that will all go to the NAAE Upper Division Scholarships.

It is time to start thinking ahead to our Region III Conference in Columbus, Nebraska. The planning is well underway and I am looking forward to a tremendous conference in Nebraska. The dates are June 17-19 and will be a time to renew old friendships and create new ones. We will also conduct committee meetings and other regional business. We will get a chance to review the draft
of the recently completed NAAE strategic plan and select award winners from another region. I challenge every member to bring another member with them to Nebraska. Let’s make this the biggest conference ever.

It is also time to start nominating outstanding members and programs for awards. State winners need to be in to the national NAAE office postmarked by May 15. If I can be of any assistance to any state, don’t hesitate to call. Hope to see you all in Nebraska.

Paul Larson
(920) 788-7945, ext. 329
Email: plarson@freedomschools.k12.wi.us

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Greetings from the Heartland! It was certainly good to reacquaint with so many friends from across the country at the national convention in Las Vegas and in Indy at the National Ag Ed Inservice. A friend recently suggested to me that maybe “there are no state lines.” If there are some they certainly are diminishing as we all work together in ag education.

The NAAE had a very productive February Board Meeting. The Strategic Plan Draft was finalized, the transition of the physical move of the NAAE office was addressed in further detail, and we tackled the entire policy handbook and brought it up to date. One of our requirements at the meeting was to set our personal goals for the year. I will share with you that my main goal for this year is communication. Communication among board members. Communication between related organizations. Communication with policy makers. Communication with state leadership. Communication with members.

I would like to communicate to you that the Region IV conference will be held this year June 24-26 in Champaign Urbana in what we all hope will also be home of the NCAA basketball champions this year. Complete information will appear soon on the Region IV website found at www.jmaierhofer.com.

Jeff Maierhofer
(815) 357-5024
Email: jeff@jmaierhofer.com.

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Welcome back! I hope each of you had a wonderful holiday season and are rejuvenated and ready to carry on the activities of the spring with renewed vigor. We had a fantastic conference in Las Vegas and it was great to see that Region V was well represented. I congratulate each of our regional winners and commend them on a job well done. I also thank each of you for entrusting me with the position of Region V Vice President. My goal is to be your voice and work with you to carry on the great traditions of Region V and NAAE. It’s not too early to begin thinking about “beefing up” that membership, make your contacts to those that have not paid their dues and let’s all work together to increase our membership another ten percent this year. Keep in mind our regional conference is in June and those rooms must be booked by May 1, in Raymond MS. If you need any information about our summer conference just contact me and I will see that you get it.

Congratulations to Dennis Deaton from Alabama being elected Region V Alternate Vice President. I am sure that he will do a great job. It is time to begin preparing those NAAE awards applications; the applications are on the web site. We need an application in each area from each state. Don’t forget about the new “Teachers Turn the Key” scholarship. If you need any help or more information please contact me.

We are in the process of creating a web page for Region V. We hope to have it up and running by the regional conference. This will give us the ability to communicate. More information will be provided as things develop.

It was great to see many of you at the state leaders conference in Indianapolis. I am sure we were all able to carry back information to our states that will improve our programs and activities. Lee

Lee James
(662) 285-3205
Email: leejjames@yahoo.com

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Greetings from the Great Northeast. Last fall I had the opportunity to attend three inservice meetings and two new teacher workshops. I continue to have renewed faith in the future of our profession after witnessing first hand the excitement, enthusiasm, and maybe just a little trepidation, that the new teachers were filled with as they embark on their new careers as agricultural educators. Equally
impressive were the number of experienced teachers willing to share their expertise on a variety of topics to mentor these young teachers. We sure have a profession that believes in sustainability!

It was good to see so many of you at the NAAE convention. This event provides an incredible educational experience for all, while we celebrate our accomplishments and successes. All returned from Las Vegas as “BIG WINNERS” recharged with energy to implement the many new ideas we gained from each other. Good luck putting them to work.

We look forward to the 2003 Region VI conference July 7 -10 at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, PA. The conference planning committee has been working very hard for over a year to provide a coordinated conference for PAAE, NAAE Region VI, and the PA Young Farmer Association. I encourage you to attend as an excellent program of inservice, tours and unique networking opportunities await you. Also you will have an opportunity to review and have input into the new NAAE Strategic Plan. If you have any questions about the conference, please contact Gerald W. Reichard, (717) 762-7793, g_jreichard@cvn.net, or check the PAAE website,
www.PAAE.org for a conference overview.

I ask you each to consider filling out an award application for the different award areas of NAAE. If you need any assistance in this process or if I can be of any other service to your state organization, please contact me.

Terry Hughes
(518) 255-5538
Email: hughestr@cobleskill.edu.

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