The District 7 fall agricultural educators meeting was held on September 2, 2004 and called to order at 4:00 pm by president Christi Bachman.

* The Chevy scholarship program for FFA chapters. A $5.00 donation is being requested by the general public for this fundraiser.

* Prices for citrus will be established at the September 29th board meeting. Expect increases. Make sure your supplies will be able to cover your needs and will donate to the rebate program. Fruit sales will kickoff Friday, October 8th.

* Amanda Hills is offering chapters to participate in bottled water sales. Chapters have the opportunity to have their chapter photo or mission be printed for a label.

* Fund raising tracking sheets are available from a variety of sources. The state of Iowa has a program for about $50; Extension offices in northwest Ohio have a program for about $20; other sources could be found on the web.

* Chapters should consider offering other products such as beef jerky, BBQ sauce, and deli style mustard to enhance their sales.

Short presentations were given by district 7 teachers on their best practices. Rick Metzger provided a lesson called "Reebops" dealing with genetic combinations where students can determine the outcome of their "animals" based upon the chromosomes selected.

Neil Lehnhart provided information on welding practices and shop activities, where students evaluate their welds. Samples of various welding projects were shown.

Tim Turner provided information on a lesson through Pioneer seed dealing with biotechnology. By using lab items available through Pioneer, students can check protein levels in corn to see if the seed is Round-Up Ready. Tim also showed examples of insect

The OAAE business meeting began at 5:25 PM.

Jeff Ellis handed out minutes from the spring meeting. No additions or corrections were stated. The treasury contains $1236. 42. It was decided by the district not to have any district dues.

Introductions of student teachers and students exploring the teaching profession were made.

Committee Reports

Legislative: Letters to encourage the replacing of John Miley need to be sent to the state office. Examples of what should be stated in the letters will be emailed. It is very important that the state gets this position refilled.

Camp Board: Scott Sharp reported that one of the houses on the camp site is being remodeled into apartments. This will be more economical for the camp.

CDE Update: A green sheet detailing the changed to Ohio CDEÕs was distributed. It was determined that a district elimination contest for Ag Communication would be needed.

Fruit Sale: Be advised of possible changes in fruit prices. More info will be available through the Ohio FFA website.

Trophies: Please check the spelling of students names prior to being submitted for the trophies.

Ethics: None

Alumni: State awards need to be posted by October 1st.

Unfinished Business

Calendar: Amanda Clearcreek will be hosting the Ag Communication CDE on November 16th. Concerning Parliamentary Procedure CDE, only one chapter per county is allowed to participate.

New Business

Thank you's need to be written to the sponsors of trophies. Sponsors of the trophies would have labels identifying them, attached to the back of the appropriate ones.

Record books will be checked at county levels prior to district evaluation in February. The district evaluation will be a verification process prior to sending the materials to the state office. Check emails for proposed dates for your prospective county.

Bachman asked teachers to consider being members of the professional organization, OAAE. This is our teacher organization that runs state activities. Members had issues as to the amount of dues needed to join. Eighty dollars of each dues-paying member helps pays Valerie Graham's salary. Members asked as to where all the dues money is going. Posting information as to the benefits of this professional organization would be helpful.

No information for delegate council to bring forth.

EMIS information sheets were available.

Meeting was adjourned at 6:15 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Susan Metzger

Secretary