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November/December 2006 Issue
Raising leaders
by Jennifer Shike
It seems like only yesterday they were leading members of the National Junior Swine Association. Today, they are making a difference in agricultural venues across the United States.
They lead in their jobs at state pork producer organizations, boar studs,
ag communications companies, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, schools and more.
It’s true that the NJSA takes pride in hosting quality, competitive, educational shows across the country. But we take even greater pride in raising future agricultural leaders within our 9,000-member organization.
Developing young leaders isn’t an easy task. It requires time, money, quality programs, high standards within our organization and staff, and most importantly, it requires self-motivation from our young people.
When NJSA started, our goal was to develop a national leadership conference that would move to a different location in the country each spring. We wanted to create an event that would give youth more working knowledge of the purebred swine industry, agriculture and leadership traits. Each year, we strive to make our conference better than the year before.
This year’s event, “The Race Is On,” will take place in Indianapolis on April 19-22 and is open to youth ages 14-21.
This exciting conference will feature tours of Shaffer’s Gold Rush, Hoosier State Semen Supply, the Indy 500 Museum and more. Youth will gain insight from top leaders in agriculture and specifically, the swine industry. It’s a weekend you won’t want to miss!
As our organization continues to grow and expand, we have recognized the need for more great leadership events – especially events targeted to our younger members.
On Sat., Feb. 3, the NJSA will host its first-ever regional leadership conference at Black Hawk College – East Campus in Kewanee, Ill. This conference will be open to all 12-17-year-old NJSA members. The cost is $25 and will include materials, meals and a T-shirt.
The one-day format will make it better suited to reaching our younger members within that region. Parents are encouraged to drop off their NJSA member between 8-9 a.m. for check-in. Depending upon the interest we receive from parents, we plan to develop some activities at the same time for parents to attend on campus.
This conference will feature Donna Hines as our keynote speaker from Quincy, Mich. Donna brings many years of leadership experience, coaching and teaching to our conference. She will share messages with youth about what it means to be a leader and more!
As well, youth will be introduced to some of the Midwest’s top agricultural leaders including workshops with Brian Hines on showpig selection, Dan and Mark Hoge on showpig nutrition, and Grant Grebner and Doug Albright on showmanship tips.
In addition, a career panel discussion about working in a boar stud will take place in the afternoon with Mike Miller of Hi Point Genetics, Ben Bobell of Prairie State Semen Inc. and Mike McCoy of Real McCoy Genetics.
Youth will also have the opportunity to tour Black Hawk College with Lee Denzer, Brian Arnold and Angie Gensini. This will be a great opportunity for youth to visit with a college recruiter and be exposed to a college tour.
Each year we will rotate this conference throughout the country at other campuses in each of our NJSA regions. Our goal is to expose youth from all areas at a younger age to leadership-building events and work on building not only the future leaders of the NJSA, but also the future leaders of our industry.
If you are between the ages of 12-21, I highly encourage you to take advantage of these two great conferences. Leadership doesn’t just happen overnight. It is the result of hard work, training and dedication. Come learn with us what it takes to become a leader that is worthy to follow.
