Diane Runde

Advisor

Stationed by the owl

Fast Facts

Age: 29ish
Birthday: December 7th
SAE: I was involved in the Dairy Cattle SAE when I was in high school
Future Plans: I plan to continue teaching and advising the FFA.
Favorite Color: Yellow
Favorite Animal: A Holstein Cow- of course
Favorite CDE: Floriculture and LAND/SOILS Judging
Quote: " You never know unless you try"
Hobbies: Gardening, fishing, reading and taking my children to their sport events.

Why did you join FFA?

I joined the FFA because my advisor suggested I should. I enrolled in ag classes, but was not interested in the FFA until I went to a CDE event. I meet some really interesting people and wanted to attend more events. I became an officer, went to state and national conventions and have been hooked on the FFA since high school.

What has been your most challenging FFA experience?

I recharted the Craig FFA in 1996. I did not have a classroom, FFA chapter, officers, materials or too much of anything. I did have some eagar students who wanted to grow the chapter...so we set out to get an FFA chapter and ag classes noticed in the community. The Janesville Craig FFA chapter and agriculture program was selected as the best program in Region 3 through the National Association of Agriculture Educators.

Who has had the greatest impact on your life?

My father and mother, who taught me that hard work never really hurt anybody! My ag teacher Darren Ropp, who made education fun and taught me how to judge dairy cattle.

Read about our Advisor, one of the 50 People who Matter in Janesville, WI..http://www.gazettextra.com/news/2008/jan/20/teacher-plants-ag-program/

Final thought

Take advantage of every opportunity that life presents you, if you wait for the perfect one to come along, you will have missed hundreds of others.... Try it, you might like it!!

Stacy Skemp

Advisor

Fast Facts

Age: 25
Birthday: March 21
Future Plans: To continue to teach agriculture and advise FFA
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Animal: Holstein Cow and Frogs
Favorite CDE: Dairy Products
Quote: I am an agriculture teacher by choice, not by chance.
Hobbies: Basketball, Softball, Volleyball, outdoors, and anything dealing with agriculture.

Why did you join FFA?

I was interested in agriculture and my parents were in FFA. I also grew up on a farm and was very active in 4-H. I started taking agriculture classes and joined FFA right away. Being from a small agricultural community joining FFA was expected. I knew I wanted to peruse something in agriculture after high school and I knew that joining FFA would help me decide on a career path in agriculture.

What has been your most challenging FFA experience?

Going through four different FFA advisors in high school; I missed out on a lot of opportunities in high school and want to make sure that students can have every opportunity that FFA provides. As a high school FFA student I was not aware of the many opportunities until I traveled with a neighboring high school FFA Chapter to National Convention in Louisville, Kentucky my senior year. There my eyes were opened up to a lot of the things I was missing out on as a FFA member.

FFA has unlimited opportunities for all students including: Talent Competitions, Band, Chorus, Career Development Events, Scholarships, Speaking Contests, Leadership Conferences, Community Service, National Convention, State Convention, Scrap booking, Parliamentary Procedure Competitions, Basketball Games, Softball Games, Volleyball Games, Donkey Basketball, Proficiency Applications, Field Trips, Career Exploration, Fundraising, FFA Degrees, FFA Awards, and Leadership Opportunities to say the least.

Who has had the greatest impact on your life?

My mother and father have showed me how to work hard for what I want. Growing up on a farm was a great experience for me. I learned how to work for what I wanted and that you won't always get what you want in life. I spent many summer days doing physical labor to help anyway I could on the dairy farm. My parents also showed me how to make it through hard times and to never give up. During my junior year at the University of Wisconsin -Platteville our dairy barn burnt to the ground. It was a hard two years for my family, but my parents taught me a lot about patience and having faith that in the end it would all work out.

Final thought

FFA is for all students that may have any interest in agriculture. It no longer stands for Future Farmers of America! YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LIVE ON A FARM OR IN THE COUNTRY TO JOIN FFA! If we had those requirements there would be no FFA chapter at Janesville Craig.