Building Tomorrow's Leaders: Liz Ammon on FFA Excellence in Susanville

Speaker 1

[00.00.00]

 Uh, yeah. Yeah. Okay, so Liz Larson high school. Uh, it's been a bit getting you on the podcast. Really excited to have you. Of course we're what? Post two weeks and now this will this will get, uh, distributed sometime after that. But you and I talking right now, we're a couple of weeks post fair. Correct. So, as a highly kickass teacher, I know that, uh, that's a lot, uh, prepping for that fair, getting through that fair. So, um, sound. Looks like your kids did incredible. Um, can you kind of just give us a recap of the fair and kind of how that works, since we're a couple of weeks out 

Speaker 2

[00.00.40]

 of it? Yeah. No worries. So we actually had 159 total for each and FFA members this last fair show, which are, you know, in my opinion, that's pretty good numbers for our entire county. And of those 159 members, 60 of them were just from Susanville, FFA. And so yeah, Mike and I and Becky had our hands full with a very that's the largest number that we've ever had as far as students showing. And without poultry being able to show this year at fair, we were concerned that the numbers would be a little lower. But, um, it was actually the highest we've ever had. So very blessed. And those kids did phenomenal. Uh, when I talk about a really enjoyable, easy, um, stress free kind of affair minus a couple, you know, issues, of course, that come and go. We were pretty blessed. And the auction was remarkable. Uh, the students had over 480 or $430,884 brought in by the sales and support of our local community. So pretty incredible that that many community members stepped up and really helped our students out with all of their hard work. 

Speaker 1

[00.01.51]

 Yeah. So. Well first of all that's incredible. 60 from Susanville FFA alone is is is a lot. Yeah that's that's a lot. Uh I don't think people recognize. And so you split that load. You mentioned two other names. Can you elaborate on kind of what their roles are. And and I know obviously you're an egg teacher and highly involved, but tell me about them and how much support you have overall. Okay. So we had a teacher leave this year and a new teacher come in. So believe it or not, Mike Somerville and I were completely responsible prior up to fair for all 60 of those kids, and we split evenly, 30 apiece. Um, and Mike was in charge of all of the steer kids and the pig kids, and I was in charge of the lamb, goat, and rabbit kids. And so each of those, we do four project visits. And so we see every single one of those kids project a minimum of four times between, you know, about March ish and a fair. And some of them we see quite a bit more. I know some of the rabbit kids, I think I went to their houses 7 or 8 times to make sure, because they have to be within the ounce of perfect going into fair. Right? Yeah, 

Speaker 2

[00.03.00]

 yeah. So but, um, what? Teacher it'll be a little bit different this next year. 

Speaker 1

[00.03.05]

 That's great. Yeah, only only 20 projects per person. If it's not sticks out, right? Yeah. Okay, so what do you contribute to the kind of the rise of participation? What's changed? It seems, you know, in many ways, you know, we talk about, you know, the greater Lassen County area kind of losing people overall, the school district kind of, you know, staying plateau and fighting against going backwards as far as student enrollment. But yet there's a growth in this program and these kids taking animals. What do you attribute that to? 

Speaker 2

[00.03.37]

 I actually think it stems back, to be brutally honest to Covid, and I think that when Covid wasn't a thing anymore and people went back to their real world, kids wanted an opportunity to participate in absolutely everything that they could. And for those kids who didn't think that it was a possibility or a probability for them in their lives, that their eyes were opened after Covid, that kind of anything is possible. And I think kids jumped into it a lot more than in prior years, when maybe they wouldn't have. We had a phenomenal ag teacher that I know that you know very well, Alex, who was a part of our program for four years, and that fresh growth and excitement, I think, really did help fuel our program as well. Um, her leaving was definitely a hard thing for us, but very happy that she's moving on in her life. Yeah. So I think those two things kind of played a tandem role in the increase of the members in our program, and I think kids are realizing more that they can do a lot of things. They can do FFA and FBLa and drill team and do them all and be successful. And so kids are taking advantage of that. 

Speaker 1

[00.04.43]

 You know, it's great to have a positive spin on something positive coming out of Covid. So thanks for sharing that. Thanks for sharing that. Because, you know, obviously you don't hear a lot of positive things coming out of Covid. But you know, I agree with you that when a lot of times you don't realize how important things are until it's taken from you. And, uh, you know, I think that's, uh, one tremendous response is to have kids just jump in on everything they can do everything. And these rural schools, Lassen High, fall River High School, you know, a lot of the schools that I deal with a ton, Bernie, um, they are all figure out Big Valley. How do we let these kids do everything? Because. Right, there's not a ton of kids. And, you know, one of the disadvantages to maybe small schools is that, you know, people would argue there's not as many total programs. Uh, but what I think makes us unique is that they can participate in everything. We're in these big schools, kids kind of have to specialize, even if it's sports, for example. Right? I can only play basketball. Basketball because I've got to pretty much play it year round in order to make the team. Um, and these rural schools, you know, you put out the effort and there's always going to be someone to support you, to make sure you can do it all, you know, if they're willing to put in the work, which is amazing. Good 

Speaker 2

[00.05.59]

 job. It is amazing. And I think that those of us who coach leadership events like FFA and FBLa, we work really hard with the kids to get around their sports schedules. And so for every speaker or team that I have, we practice a minimum of usually 2 to 3 hours a week. And so for every one of those kids, sometimes it's a 6:30 a.m. morning practice, sometimes it's lunch, sometimes it's after school. It totally depends on their availability with all of their other involvement. And so it does alter and change and makes it a challenge sometimes. But we want every kid to have every opportunity that they can have. 

Speaker 1

[00.06.36]

 You know, you were just talking about, um, bragging about Alex, which I agree with you. She's amazing. Um, but also, I'd say you and Don are pretty incredible. Um, I would say it's about about two years ago when I visited, uh, your guys's classroom, I hadn't obviously, I've had a lot of experience with FFA kids, but. And then those FFA kids that were in that room were incredible. Um, which actually doesn't surprise me because I think almost all of them are incredible. But, uh, the FBLa kids was something that was new to me. And being a small business owner myself, I just loved that there's, you know, that type of a program. And I just I want to commend you and Don for just, you know, pumping out some amazing kids. Those kids are engaged. And I've talked about it a little bit in the past, but usually a school asked me to come speak. I've spoke at Lassen College, um, Shasta College, uh, your school, fall River High School, Burnie, a little bit. Um, and usually you're pulling teeth to get a kid to ask a question or to engage. I mean, it's just it's so. And I remember, and you're with all those kids there. At some point, you guys won't have any questions. And, oh, my gosh, I, I think we just ran out of time and they would have kept they would have kept asking questions for another hour or two, I feel like. So they're definitely not just going through the motions doing that. They're actively engaged and passionate about everything that they're doing in those programs. So. Again, that starts with leadership. It starts with leadership. So I'm going to segue right into 2122 AG educator of the year. Right. Isn't that. Yeah. 

Speaker 2

[00.08.17]

 Yes. Which 

Speaker 1

[00.08.18]

 yeah. So that's a call off the entire state, right? Uh, recognition. 

Speaker 2

[00.08.22]

 Correct. There's I think around 1100 ag teachers in the state of California. And if I'm not mistaken, there's only 8 or 9 of us in the state who have ever been recognized. So, um, pretty cool honor. And I think the amazing. Thank you. I think the neatest thing about that is I'm not one of those people who needs a piece of paper to tell me that I'm doing a good job, or I'm doing my job right. But the fact that a kid nominated me and spoke up on my behalf and turned in the application, and that I was interviewed by a panel of 24 students, um, randomly pulled from the entire state of California, and they interviewed as well. And then when I received that recognition, it was, um, pretty neat. And especially my daughter was a freshman. And to have her there, uh, at the convention with 7500 other people and to hear her scream and holler when my name was called was a pretty cool moment. So very blessed. Very blessed. 

Speaker 1

[00.09.14]

 That is so cool. I didn't realize it was student driven. And then the interview process. Oh, that makes it even more special. I mean, yeah, I mean, don't be around. Getting nominated by your peers is also incredible. I'm not. But, uh, we're just talking about how kids. Historically and traditionally don't really go out of their comfort zone for something like that. So that you're right, that makes it even more special. Congratulations. I think 

Speaker 2

[00.09.40]

 that's amazing. It was definitely the most rigorous interview I've been in my life. They had me sitting in the center and they were all around in a circle, and it was like rapid fire questions for about 45 minutes. So I was definitely sweating while I got out of that interview. Um, but, uh, but a really neat experience. And so this last year, I was actually able to run that interview for this year's recipient and was there with the kids and helped develop the questions and to watch them get interviewed. So it was neat to be on the flip side of it as well this year. 

Speaker 1

[00.10.10]

 Yeah. Amazing. Amazing. Awesome. Yeah. So how do you think the kids overall getting back to the fair? How do you think they did financially? I know we gross more, but we had more kids. I felt like the auction, um, prices were down just a little bit. So how did the kids overall do in your program as far? Did any kids not cover costs or everyone cover costs? Kind of talk us through that a little bit. 

Speaker 2

[00.10.34]

 That's a really valid question to ask. And so you always have as you have increased enrollment in kids participating, and you only have so much money that the community can in turn donate. So to say back to the members, it does dilute the waters a little bit more as far as the profit that some kids receive. And so I know for like example, the champion steered this year was from Westwood, California. And I know that she did lose actually a bit of money even after selling for decent price. When you become a competitive as you are in our fair, you, you have to invest some money to make some money. And so even winning champion I know that she was down. Um, you know, for example, my two children show sheep and my gift to them, to their college fund is they pay for the animal. We pay for the feed and the the bedding and fair supplies and all the other stuff. And my son spent a little bit more on his lamb. My daughter went as cheap as possible to make money for college, and so she profited. Okay, you know, my son made I think, about $200 for five and a half months of rigorous work. Right. That can be tough. But it's the it's. The chance that you take 

Speaker 1

[00.11.47]

 it is. It absolutely is. And, uh. Um. Yeah, that's that's what I love. That's why I love supporting the fairies. I just feel like it's just a little bit of entrepreneurship for kids, you know? Right. So you you just hit it on the head, right? You spend money on an animal, you can take it one of two ways. You can say, hey, I'm going to keep my costs as low as possible, but I might not place places. Well, you know, and or, uh, I'm going to really go after a great animal, which means I've got to go to a top breeder. I've got to go spend more money to buy that animal. And then, of course, we've got to. Yeah. And then there's supplements and you've got to feed it really, you know, high quality ingredients and, you know, all those things add up. And at the end, you know what? I love that they're going through that process. Do I make any money or not? I just it's amazing to me how many kids that aren't in that program go in for life with just in my opinion, virtually zero money skills, zero. And so I just feel like this is so far this is like 4D chess compared to, you know, the kids who don't know how to play checkers when they get out. Right? And so anyway, I love that. I love that component of it. So on, on that side of it, um, like kids that are. I also, you know, I'm not a, uh. When you're at the fair, we usually concentrate what we our company concentrates on lambs, pigs, steers, things that you can. Then we turn around and have the animals processed, and then we give all the meat to our employees. And it's just kind of a great, great, full circle thing. Supports the community, sort of, uh, supports our employees. Kind of a win win in our book. Um, but I also really applaud, um, the Larson Fair for I'm as a buyer. I'm glad that they pared it down a little bit, got rid of some of the turkeys. And now that might not be popular with some people that love those animals. It's nothing against the certain animals. But I do think the rabbits still give, the goats still give them a low entry. Um, and then rabbits you can keep. You know, some people don't have the blessing of having property. So can you talk us through just a little bit about how you get kids involved that maybe live, you know, right in town, don't have, you know, or maybe in an apartment, don't have that ability to have an animal. How do you support those kids and kind of talk us through that a little bit, please? Of 

Speaker 2

[00.14.10]

 course. So one of the things that I love is that those numbers are increasing for the small animals. And although it does make it tough when you're sitting there in Turkey after Turkey, they walk across the auction ring. Um, the nice part about it is we have a larger increase in kids who are from the city setting who are showing, and it's really easy for them to show. Yeah. Market rabbits. It's three rabbits, and I have a series of cages that have been donated to me over the years from different for each and FFA families, and I keep them on my property. And then whenever the kid is going to show those that cage is donated to them for the duration of fairs. So that way they don't have that initial expense, and all they have to do is pay for the the rabbits themselves and then their feed. And so they're probably invested just under $200 in, in those rabbits by the time they go to start. And our Plumas Bank will actually do loans for kids as well, who are first time investors in their projects, or repeat kids who have spent that money before going into the next year's project. So they do have an opportunity to to do it, even if money is tight and then the chickens are great, they only have the chickens about 5 or 6 weeks or so, and you can keep those. And, you know, the blue kitty pools that you get from Walmart or Ace Hardware, and you can put those guys in your garage and raise them up nice and easy. And so I think once a couple of kids did that and our non-typical ag kids saw that it was a possibility to do that while living in town. Those numbers definitely increased, especially with having those resources available for the kids. 

Speaker 1

[00.15.44]

 And what? That's amazing. 

Speaker 2

[00.15.46]

 Right? Because every kid. Absolutely. Responsibility. Caring for something else. Um, being empathetic for another animal and human. And also that process of the loss when the animal goes, I think is is very difficult for a lot of kids. But I think it's a strong life lesson in the end, and the investment of time that you give another animal and to see that success at fair in the show ring and, um, on auction day is really neat to see. Yeah. You know, you touched on, on such an important, such an important component of, of that that that gets lost a lot in when we talk about it. And that is, you know, basically the animal is um, is processed when this is all over and turned into, you know, uh, food, uh, that we all eat. And I see so many families and so many, you know, there, uh, you know, the perception could be, oh, my gosh, how could you do that as they're eating their Big Mac burger, right? You know, just, uh, and they're just with a complete disconnect between where the food is coming from and because they're not involved in it or don't know about it. Almost the they feel like it doesn't apply to them. Um, so anyway, I think that's a super important lesson, along with the financial part of it is just kind of where does our food come from? And, uh, there's, you know, there are people out there working really hard to make sure we have all the food that we need. And that's kind of ties it all back to a very local thing. So anyway, get back to kind of that, um, gateway where, you know, kid takes a rabbit can kind of keep it in the garage, that kind of stuff. It. Does your program have the ability for kid going, hey, I've. I've done rabbits a couple of years. I've saved up some money. Now I want to do a pig or I want to do a steer. It's 

Speaker 1

[00.17.34]

 there. Um, at fall River, for example, there's, uh, some, um, ground that the FFA controls that they can do that. Do you guys have something similar like that for kids that want to step up? We actually do not. And so we're one of the few schools, especially in a rural subtle like area that we are that does not have a farm. We're very locked on all sides of us by the river and housing in town. And so that does create kind of a problem. I came my first two years of teaching. I taught down at Fireball High School, and then before that I did my student teaching at Lincoln that has the largest high school farm in the state of California. So it was definitely a transition to come here. But we have plenty of students and people in our community who are willing to allow those students who want to to raise an animal on their property if they would like to. And usually it's completely free of charge. They just keep the facilities clean, um, because they want to see kids be successful and have those opportunities. And 

Speaker 2

[00.18.34]

 that's awesome, right? And to touch on something else that you said about the disconnect with some people in our food industry. You know, one thing that I told my personal children their first year that was showing. You know, when you're in fourth grade and you bring your lamb to the pen to say goodbye, it's really hard. And I tell them, right, I say that lamb would have been marketed for human consumption whether or not you raised it, but that lamb was so lucky because it had you. And so for the last five months, it was washed and walked and loved on and showed affection and, um, a little bit of empathy and love that it might not have had to that extent that it would in a large production industry. And so I teach them that they gave that animal a gift, so to say, in the life that they did have. Amazing. That's a great that's a great added perspective because it's so true. It's absolutely true. I and my I did it. And that's why it's so important to me. I raised animals all through for H and FFA. My kids did it. Um, and it's such a powerful thing. And so I feel like it's our obligation to, to get back through that process because it was so rewarding to me. But those animals are like, you know, they're like family. Um, they're 

Speaker 1

[00.19.48]

 like family at the end. Yeah. I mean, there's I remember being very emotional at times when and you obviously have favorites and some that are, you know, just tremendous. And then you have I've had some steers that quite frankly, it's pretty happy to let them loose and go, you know, because they were just poops the whole time. Uh, so anyway, uh, they all have great qualities for sure. Yeah, they definitely do. Definitely do. Yeah. Okay. So, um, do you guys have any, uh, like, kind of. Visionary type things that you see where your program is going or things that you're excited about that you're, um, working towards, or anything you want to share at this point with us. Liz. 

Speaker 2

[00.20.30]

 So I think that our program really, truly did hit a high peak to around 2016 to 2019. We had five one, two three, four five state championships over five years, and we even had a national title that we won, which is the only national title that our school has won for a leadership team. 

Speaker 1

[00.20.50]

 Okay, so as a leadership team, I was going to say, can you elaborate on what what it was specifically was the the the state and national 

Speaker 2

[00.20.57]

 champions. So the first championship was in 2016, well in the last so many years. And it's in the veterinary science team that I coach and the and then we were third in the nation that year. And then we had a floral team that went back, um, and they were third in the nation as well. And then we had our forestry team go back and they were 10th. And then my vet science team went back again in 2019. New group of kids, right. Once they win a state title, compete again. And we won the national title in 2019, which was 

Speaker 1

[00.21.27]

 pretty cool. Yeah, it was neat. And then and then Covid hit and you know, while we were riding this high of excitement and our team won and we had all these great things going on. Life kind of, you know, slowed down for a little bit. And when we started back up again and we talked about the increase of student involvement and fairs, the intensity that we had with some of those kids may not have been quite the same. And I think kids had a way with school to I think Lacey's probably a mean word to say, but they kind of got a little lazy with school and coming back in and hitting three hour practices a week from the beginning of September all the way through. May was tough for some kids to transition back into. And we've been very successful. You know, our probably pro teams were sixth in the state this last year. And, um, almost all of our CTE or career development event teams that we coach were our top five every single year, consistently and out of over, you know, 330 programs in the state. That's that's impressive in my opinion. But, um, that intensity hasn't been quite as fierce as it was back in those years. So we're definitely focusing on that. And sometimes when you have a program like ours that's growing as much as it is, you want to provide more and more opportunities for some kids. But at one point, um, you have quantity over quality. And so we have so many things that we coach and so many teams that we offer, and to give them all, they're just due to be competitive at all of the field days and conventions that we take them to it. You only have so much time in the day, so that makes it tough. But one of the highlights we're we're increasing a lot stronger than I think we ever have before is our involvement. With our individual youth leaders. And so we have two students who are regional officers this year. There are six regions of California. Yeah. And we have two who are regional officers. And then we have a lot of students who have been attending the Washington Leadership Conference the last couple of years, which is neat. It focuses on service before self. And then you create a service learning project to bring back to your community. So we have kids who are engrossed in that. We have kids who have gone to, um, the Changemakers Summit, which is another conference preparing kids for like state leadership roles. And a cool thing is our two regional officers were actually selected to be delegates for the national convention for this coming year. So think about it. There's 104,000 FFA members in the state of California. 36 of them are selected to be national delegates. Two are from Susanville. And so I think it's 

Speaker 2

[00.24.03]

 amazing when you look at it, our kids are so cool. They're doing great things. And this group of kids that I have that are taking advantage of every conference, they even had some that went to Philadelphia this summer to a next gen conference. They're taking advantage of all these opportunities. So we're growing and growing and growing. But, um. Having. I think that that peak in a team, you have to have 4 to 6 kids who all peak at the same time together. Um, we've been really close the last couple of years, but not quite to that champion level again. Mhm. Yeah. 

Speaker 1

[00.24.37]

 So backtrack just a little. Were you involved in FFA growing up. And I think you went to school in Auburn and then Chico State. Right. So uh, can you talk us through kind of what how what introduced you. What made you want to be an egg teacher? 

Speaker 2

[00.24.51]

 Sure. So I actually grew up originally in Natomas and Sacramento, and as a kid, you know, I swam year round. I was into all of our sports. And then my parents moved us to the little town called offer outside of Auburn. My freshman year of high school, and I remember signing up at Plaster High School for classes, and they said, do you want to take bio or ag? And no joke. I asked, what is AG? I had no idea at the age of 14 what happened, and I took that class and Mr. Ken Martin was my ag teacher and he just showed me the family that you can have and the growth that you can obtain in such a youth organization. You know, their FFA is the largest national youth organization in the world, and it focuses on leadership, not farming, which everybody thinks it does, but it's leadership. And I just found that passion. And by the end of my senior year of high school, I knew I wanted to be an ag teacher and be able to impact kids the way that it impacted me. And I got married young. I got married at 18. And so while my husband was serving a couple of tours overseas during Iraqi Freedom, I worked my tail through Chico State while living at Baylor Air Force Base and started my my path from there. So definitely different. So when kids say I don't really know what it's about, I go, I was there at 14. I have somebody literally defined to me what exactly it was because I had no idea. 

Speaker 1

[00.26.17]

 That's incredible. That's incredible. So okay, at 14 you move up there as a freshman, which by the way. That that had to not be easy. Yeah. Um, so so, uh, did you go all in in ag and FFA? Were you and party pro and all that, or were you just kind of dip your toes in it and went, hey, I love this, but, uh, limited, limited interaction. Tell us about that. 

Speaker 2

[00.26.40]

 Well, um, I had a teacher who was an incredible instructor and who would take me to or our members to anything that we really wanted to go within reason. But the concept of coaching was not something that I think he was as familiar with or as invested in. And, um, he was an incredible man. But it was really difficult when you went to contests and you consistently placed at the bottom, um, because you were not as prepared as other teams individually. Uh, I was very successful in the extemporaneous public speaking contest. I went to states a couple of times and that and that's something that you can kind of do on your own. But I saw really successful teams, and back in my era, it was really bear River. Bear River was the school to be. Yeah. And and they're incredible now. And of course, that's where Alex went also. And so, um, I knew I wanted to be that teacher for kids where they could be successful and they could gain as much experience as they possibly could, because I knew what it was like to want that also, and to not necessarily have all the opportunities to get to that level. And so I think that's part of why I go gung ho and I go as fierce as I do, is I want every kid that can to have the opportunity that I may not have been given as in-depth as I would have hoped to have had as a kid. 

Speaker 1

[00.28.04]

 Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. You know, so, uh, I was in Parli Pro, and I share this story with a couple people, but. Going through high school. Going through college. Um, you know, especially at high school, I was just very much a introvert still, you know. Uh, but, uh, don't like the idea of getting up and doing public speaking would be like, for most people. Like, the worst thing you could ever have me do. And through FFA, I got into parley Pro. My uncle, uh, Ken Hutchins, was the ag teacher there forever. And he's. And then my parents were like, oh yeah, you're gonna do parli pro? I'm like, I don't even know what Party Pro is. And then my uncle was like, I, I think you would be a good president. And I saw, you know, our advanced team doing. And I'm like, I could never, never do that. Fast forward to, you know, of course, doing it and then doing it for four years. Uh, we won a couple of state championships and I'll, I'll, I'll tell you that that parli pro experience for me did more for making me comfortable speaking in front of people. Probably did more for my career, more for my ability to lead teams of people than anything I did in high school and college combined. So that that experience of just having to run meetings. Right. That's that's a big component of it. But then more importantly, um, you have to be able to argue every topic from both sides, whether you agree with it or not. And I think that's I mean, obviously, because people that don't know, it's a it's a point system and you have to have good arguments for you don't just cannot stand up and say, yeah, what he said, I'm going to, you know, copy that. That doesn't that doesn't get you any points. So you have to add add value to. To the debate, basically. And I think it's so powerful for kids to I mean, there's so much, um, what's the right word? I mean, I don't want to get into politics, but there's so much you're either in this camp or you're in this camp, and people just, uh, get so rooted in one side or the other, whether it's politics, whether it's a certain issue that people are debating. I think what's beautiful about Parli Pro is that you are forced to learn both sides of the argument, which gives you empathy and the ability to at least understand where other people are coming from. Right. And so it's just great. So can you expand on that just a little bit. And some of the other things that these kids are getting exposed to. Because, you know, I did I did Parley Pro, but I didn't do the extemporaneous speaking. And then you said vet science and just a little bit about what, what each of those things is about for the kids. Absolutely. So there's a plethora of leadership development event or LD and CDE, which are career development event teams that are offered in the state of California. Um, at Lassen High School, we have our agriculture mechanics team, and those kids are given, um, like a project that they have to complete in a time frame using arc and MiG welding and then oxy welding. They have tool ID. They have a written general knowledge test they have to do. And every year there's another component. Some years it's plumbing, some years it's electrical. Um, and these contests usually run around six hours for the kids to compete from start to stop nonstop. They go completely through. And then we have the veterinary science team that I coach. They have, I don't know, around 500 or so pieces of ID or more, um, everything from sugar gliders to Angus cattle and then all the equipment in parasitology that is included in the medical and vet industry. They then have a general knowledge test that comes out of a 1000 page textbook. And, um, it used to be a nice little question bank of like 330 questions. And then I had a past student of mine who's now a veterinarian in Washington, who was eight points from a perfect score at state finals. And so they wanted to make a charter. And so now we have a 1000 page textbook that they can pull anything from. And they also have to perform practicum in front of you. And so they have a series of ten of them every year. There's. Steps that you have to have memorized up to 12 or 16 steps, word for word. But every scenario that you come to when you get there will be completely different. If it's giving an intramuscular injection at one contest, it might tell you, you know, how many cc's, which fluid you have to select the correct needle, engage, and then you have to administer in the correct location. And so it's more than just basic memorization. And then when we competed at nationals they also had a team skit that they had to do. They told you like the category what it was about. And so you had to become an expert on it, but you had no idea what your skit was until 15 minutes prior and you went in a room. They gave you the topic, you got graded on how well the team worked together for the 15 minutes preparing, and then they were in front of a panel of nation national recognized veterinarians and had to give their presentation. Um, they also did writing prompts at nationals, um, which is another pretty cool component. And then we have a vegetable crop judging team and you learn to ID vegetables, weeds, seeds, insects, you name it. And then they're given a series of plates of vegetables. So for example, if it's tomatoes, there'll be four plates with four tomatoes on each plate. And you have to be able to place them in the correct order and then give a set of reasons as to why, using correct terminology for that specific type of a vegetable. And each one has very unique terms for all the things you judge. We also have had floral design. We will again this next year with Becky Struthers as our new AG teacher. She actually, when she competed in high school they were third in the nation for floral. So she's coming back and they have a bright eyed idea that they learn for tools and the plants themselves, and then they have a test that they have to take, and then they have to make a series of designs, whether it's vases and corsages and boutonniere, in a very timed fashion. Given certain criteria along the way. And then we have our parliamentary procedure team, which is an 11 minute debate. You have to be able to be presented the motion that you were given. Each person has to do their required motion and an and an additional and four debates in that time. And you have to make sure that that motion is handled and correct. Robert's Rules of Order and Parliamentary law. Fashion. We have our extemporaneous public speaking, which is my favorite individual contest. And you draw three topics. You have 30s to pick the topic you want at the end of the 30s. So you have a half of an hour, and in that half of an hour you are allowed ten minutes of internet research, but you are allowed to bring three resources with you, whether it's notebooks with properly cited websites and textbooks. And you have to write a four to a six minute speech. And so at the end of that, you just have bullet points on an index card. You're up in front of the panel judges giving your speech. Um, we coach prepared public speaking and where kids become an expert on one topic and they write a speech at a 6 to 8 minutes long, and they have to memorize it word for word and answer questions, obviously, that pertain to their essay at the conclusion, uh, impromptu public speaking is a great contest specifically for sophomores. And that's one kind of similar to extent, but on a very small version. They draw three topics. They have 30s to pick one. They have a minute to think, and then they respond to the prompt for 30s to two minutes. And so the sense that that specific concepts or inception of that contest, Susanville FFA has had an individual speaker in the final six, I think, all but one year. And so I'm really competitive in that one. We coach Creed, where the students memorize the five paragraphs of the FFA Creed and then answer questions. Um, we have job interview where they get to pick a potential job and there's a series of criteria, and then they have to write an application and a resume and a letter of intent for that job. And then they go through rigorous interview process. And so, um, and then this last year, we also had livestock judging, which is what it sounds. And so you have, you know, for steers or for pigs or for goats and you have to judge them in the correct order, and then you have to give a set of reasons as to why. And they also take a general knowledge test as well. So those are the main ones. Yeah. That's 

Speaker 2

[00.36.31]

 incredible. Each of those that we coach, we practice two and a half to three hours a week with every one of those teams. Um, the some of the speaking teams, we can practice together. Um, but definitely they work hard from the first week of September to the first week of May. No. Stop. 

Speaker 1

[00.36.48]

 Yeah. That's that's just. Yeah. Well, and then I would say, you know, I'm a little biased, but I think the pictures that people have no clue how much time you guys are spending outside of the classroom. Right. They have no clue. Just. And then so what you haven't talked about, right, is the three hours. You know, you have talked about the three hours per week. And, you know, that sounds manageable to a lot of people. But what you haven't described is then all the traveling that you guys do, you load up in vans, you drive all over the state to go compete in these events. So can you give us, the listeners some idea of how far you're traveling and where you know, where the state convention is, where the regionals are, and just kind of the sectionals and just kind of talk us through that a little 

Speaker 2

[00.37.32]

 bit. Absolutely. So we start our year going to Shasta and we go to the Shasta College field day. And then, um, we also have our sectionals, which is in fall River. MacArthur, uh, for our opening, closing and big contest. And then from there, we have contests as far north up at, uh, Tule Lake, which is virtually the Oregon border, right all the way down. I think the southernmost contest we go to is state finals for the kids in San Luis Obispo. But just like last spring alone, I traveled 14 out of 17 weekends to put that into perspective. And that's a lot of time away from your family. I was blessed that my kids were also in high school, so this was one of the few years I got to take them with me. But normally you're gone quite a bit or so for our public speaking. Our sectionals is here at Lassen, our regionals is at Chico State, and then our state finals is in Fresno. But for our field day teams, they go to everywhere. Like I said, from Tule Lake to San Luis and state finals are in San Luis Obispo. And then our regional meeting is for the FFA. Kids is in Chico. And then our state convention alternates. The last two years it's been in Sacramento. And so the next two years will be in Ontario, which although Ontario is a lot further, I absolutely love going to Ontario over Sacramento. Um, the. Last couple of years, it was difficult walking the kids to and from the golden one center to the hotel afterwards, with the the lack of cleanliness of some of the city streets. At night, I'm trying to be as politically correct as I can, so it was a little difficult. Um, definitely safer, believe it or not, in Ontario. And then the kids have an opportunity to maybe do a conjunction with Disney or California Adventure Universal or something fun along the way. So that's pretty cool. But we we go to 26 different events throughout the year, and lately we do a lot more community services than we've ever done before, too, that give kids an opportunity to do some stuff that's a little more local. If they're not able to travel and compete with us year round. So everything from our last year, we've hosted our first ever Susanville FFA Halloween Fun five K at Ranch Park, and we had 30 kids along the way set up camp. Um, and we had little signs that my leadership class made with cute little Halloween jokes along the way. And so, um, and it was free, you know, we were so lucky. Cross freedom donated the hundred shirts for us and made the shirts for the first hundred people who finished. And the candy was donated from the Lassen County Office of Education. And so our kids just worked real hard to put that fun event together, which was pretty neat. And so we've been doing a lot more of that. You'll see our kids everywhere, from the Educator's Gala to Schaefer Elementary School's Halloween Festival and needing some youth volunteers. The kids have really done a lot more in the community, I think, than they ever have before, which is a blessing, and I think it teaches them a lot about giving back to the community that gives to them. 

Speaker 1

[00.40.27]

 Yeah. Oh that's amazing. That's amazing. Yeah. So, uh, can you contrast like on the FFA, FFA, kids, FBLa, kids, kind of what um, how many of them? I'm not asking for exact percentages, but if you're educated, guess on how many go the four year path? How many go to a JC? How many go and get jobs right out of high school? 

Speaker 2

[00.40.53]

 Okay, so in the in the past we had a lot more kids that went straight to universities to four year universities than ever before. And we had a statistic back in, in Holly Egan's days before she retired that, um, we had Susanville. FFA members from the high school were more likely to go to a four year college and complete a four year college than any other member at Lassen High School. But I know that FBLa has brought a whole new realm of involvement to those universities as well. So I'm not sure in the last six or 6 or 7 years how that statistic has changed. Um, but I do know that we have a couple this year that we're going into the military of our graduating seniors. Vast majority of them were going off to community colleges, a lot to Elk, to Shasta to make up in Oregon. And then we did have a few who were traveling to universities across California and beyond. Um, which is pretty cool to see. So I don't have exact Percentages, but yeah, yeah, you're all going into some form of furthering their education or going, um, into like fire camp programs or Butte College's welding program. 

Speaker 1

[00.42.03]

 Yeah. You know, at Hackley Construction, I would say our most successful employees that, you know, obviously we have a little bit of everything. We have people that work in construction for a long time and then make a change and come to us. But I'm talking about the kids that come either right from college or right from high school, or right from a community college. Um, the best luck we have are kids that are a involved in, um, some sort of ranch background, whether they worked on a ranch or whether they, you know, their family were lucky enough to have be involved with family that was on the ranch. And I just think it's a it's a work ethic thing for primarily an A and a ownership mentality. You know, personal responsibility that, you know, somebody's got to take care of this. It's not there isn't there's very with those kids, we're finding there's virtually no that's not my job. I'm not going to do that type of thing. They see it needs to be done and they do it. Uh, which is amazing. Um, I guess what I'm. What I'm kind of wanting to get your advice on is, how do we recruit these kids for, you know, a lot of kids I see that take the FFA route. They're going straight AG and of course, there's nothing wrong with that. But how do we get them thinking about construction as a, as an alternative? Because what lack of what we look for is people that have that personal responsibility have a great work ethic, have a great attitude. Um, they, they have a, a, a a yearning for learning, right? That they want to learn, they want to grow in their careers. They want to make an impact on the community and on the company that they're working with and their teammates. Um, so I've talked to a lot of kids, and I'm like, I'm like, what are you doing? You know, if they're in the FFA program, I'm like, oh, I'm going to egg, I'm going to egg, I'm going to egg, which is great. Um, but how do we interest them? Because they have all the skills. They have the leadership and that responsibility that we want. How do we interest them in construction? What would be your advice to me on that? Okay, so this year was actually a really unique year. I was also the one of the senior class advisors with Rachel Vincent, who's a phenomenal human being. And I think I had the largest involvement we ever have had of four year computers in our program because of the connections I had with those seniors. So we actually had quite a few who were splintering off into medical in other areas, um, that maybe were not as ag driven. Even my own daughter is going to college and not majoring in AG. And I think one of the cool things I did this last year that I'm going to challenge you to be a part of this next year, is in my honors class. I have a very nice group of juniors or seniors that are very driven individuals, and one of their questions they asked me this last year, they said they go, I don't know what I want to do. I know I want to do something and I want to do something great, but I don't know. I don't know what opportunities are out there. So I had eight different industry people come in and over eight different days and give them presentations on job possibilities. We had Cal Fire in here. We had people who were ag educators or put on state fairs. We had environmentalists that work for. The state. We had all kinds of different people who came in and presented to the kids and showed them career opportunities, and it was really neat because I think it swayed quite a few kids into different paths. So I think I think 

Speaker 2

[00.45.25]

 you need to I think the kids maybe don't realize that it's out there. And yeah, and they go to like career fairs. You only have so much time to sit and talk with the kid at a given period of time. So coming in and actually doing something with the kids, like an activity and a question and answer session, but showing them what a day in the life is like. I think it was really cool when you did come into the leadership class, and they got to see that. Um, what a day in the life kind of like was for Hat Creek. And I think that if more of those kids saw that, I think it would really pique their interest, because even my son, he's going to join the military. Um, he listened to Cal Fire and he's like, wait, somebody gets paid to fly drones? And to carry fireballs and to go in to drop them for backfires. And they make that kind of money. And he's like, that sounds kind of cool. And so I think some people just don't realize the opportunities of those jobs until they're put in their face. Mhm. 

Speaker 1

[00.46.17]

 Okay. Well you challenged me. Challenge accepted. So you need to give me those dates when they come up and I will be there. Yeah for sure. Okay. That's fantastic. And one of the things I want you to tell them when they ask you that question, like they don't know what I'm going to what they're going to do, I would share that. The one thing that I knew for certain when I was a senior is that I wasn't going to be in construction. So, uh, that's, that's probably the best advice I would give, would say, keep an open mind. And then, uh, another thing that I'm telling young people and my kids in particular is that, um, passion is great. But I think, uh, to a certain degree, we've done a disservice to kids and telling them, follow your passion and follow your passion. I would say a better way would be to follow your competencies, uh, because it doesn't matter how passionate, you know? For example, I can't carry a tune and a bucket. Can't play any type of. I'm totally, totally, uh. I don't know. I don't know what the right word is, but, uh. Incompetent to anything musically. Okay, so if I wanted to. If my passion was to be a country music singer in Nashville, I don't care how hard I try, it's not going to happen. So I feel like, um, uh, kids are naturally good at certain things. All of us are. And that's one of the things that we do at our company, is try and put people in their natural strengths and try and minimize, remove the roles that their weaknesses are in and and push them more into what their, their natural strengths are. And, um, you know, I think that that's one of the things that I would encourage your kids is just, you know, find what you're really highly competent in and all. And then passion comes when you start becoming really, really good at whatever it is that you do. That's when passion builds in my mind. So anyway. 

Speaker 2

[00.48.05]

 Well said. Very well said. 

Speaker 1

[00.48.08]

 So is there anything that you can think of that we haven't talked about that we should talk about? 

Speaker 2

[00.48.14]

 Gosh, I don't know. I think we highlighted. You know Susan FFA is on its 89th year of being apart. Oh yeah. Yeah. And California FFA is going to be celebrating their 100 year anniversary in just a couple of years here too. So a lot of big exciting things that are coming up. And if gosh, that's a good question. I think that one stumped me. I don't know what else to really address except I think the community service thing is huge for us. If there's ever a need in our community for somebody I know, I know, FBLa and all the other organizations do as well, but our kids are a phenomenal group of humans that just love to give back and are very respectful and well-mannered. And if people need that extra added service, um, we have quite a few of them who are willing to help with that. So FFA centered around a three ring model and a good AG program will have FFA, their C project, and the classroom component. And here at Lassen High School, we're a firm believer there should be four Before circles, and the fourth one should be community service. And so we require that kids have so many FFA activities, and that at least one of those does need to be a community service. So the more opportunities we have to give back to the community, the better, 

Speaker 1

[00.49.27]

 you know? Um, on a side note, uh, we had we have our Christmas party, our company Christmas party each year, and we have it at the fairgrounds here in MacArthur. And, um, in the past, several years ago, we were using, you know, various restaurants to cater it and, you know, had had great results with that. But, uh, one year, um, our local FFA had, uh, they had an annual pie sale, and they make these apple pies are just incredible. Massive fundraiser. I mean, they would raise several thousand dollars selling these pies, and I can't remember exactly what happened. They had some I think it was it was a post Covid issue or a Covid issue where they're missing a key ingredient and they couldn't get it. and they had to cancel the pie sale. And that was about the time we were having an issue with our, um, our the restaurant that had been doing the catering. And so we asked them about, well, what do you guys think about doing the, the, the food for our, um, our Christmas party. And there's about 200 people at our Christmas party, so it's a pretty big it's a pretty big ask. It's not. And then I think the first year we asked for steaks, which nothing like making it super difficult for them. And uh, so obviously there were some dads and some moms involved in that too. It wasn't just the kids, but, uh, the kids rallied, did an amazing job. And of course, instead of paying the restaurant, we paid the FFA program. And now for the last few years, it's been their largest, um, fundraiser, uh, through that. So I'm a I'm the first to tell you that FFA kids are, um, our experience have been every time we've asked for them to help something. And then we usually tie some sort of donation back to it that helps their. Program. But even if we weren't offering that donation back, I guarantee there would be the first kids to volunteer. And how can we help and how can we be there? Um, so yeah, I definitely, um, want to add a agree with, uh, if you have a community need, um, it's a win win thing. You get involved, you get to get interact with our future. And that's what I'm so excited about our FFA kids as they are just the the best and brightest of what this country's future is all about. So, um, well, Liz, I want to say thank you for your time. Thank you. It's been incredible getting to talk to you. Um, appreciate, uh, how meaningful what you do is and how impactful it is. Um, I think that what you do is, is God's work, for lack of a better term. It's just, uh, these kids are, um, you know, uh, they just have such tremendous opportunities working with you and Don and the overall program and the other ag teachers that are that are working with you. And we see it every we see it at a lot of the events that we go to. And then obviously at the fair, um, what those kids do at the fair is just incredible. And then all the other, I didn't even realize how many, uh, events you guys had kids involved in. That was just, um, it's kind of shocking to me. So congratulations on my great 

Speaker 2

[00.52.33]

 work. I'm very blessed to be surrounded by such incredible kids. And they fuel, you know, your heart and your passion. And I'm a firm believer that success breeds success. And we just have this great group that just continues to grow. And so I'm going to ride this excitement of life as long as I can, because I get a lot of fulfillment and happiness. And, you know, my heart is very full in the career that I have. So I'm very lucky. 

Speaker 1

[00.52.58]

 Amazing, amazing. All right. Well, thank you for your time. I really appreciate it.

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