DW and I will be judging FFA leadership contests tonight. If you don't know what FFA is - it used to be called Future Farmers of America - now just FFA. It's an opportunity for kids grades 7-12 to learn agri-science, and leadership skills like public speaking, job interview skills, etc.

Tonight we're judging at the district level. The hierarchy of levels is District -> Regional -> State -> National. We'll also be judging different contests at he state level in March. Two representatives from each level go on to the next level, so we have to declare two winners, and award each contestant "Gold" "Silver" or "Bronze" almost everyone gets at least a gold or silver.

DD1 will be in 7th grade next year, and eligible for FFA. How does that fit in with home-school? We'll (mostly DW with my help) need to develop a curriculum for her, and drive her to chapter meetings. DW and I have three Ag. degrees between us, so I think we can handle curriculum development.

What does this have to do with finances, you ask? DW was very active in FFA through high school and even college. Her involvement in FFA leadership activities was a big part of how she was awarded a full-ride scholarship to MSU from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Alumni Association. She was required to maintain a 3.5 GPA at MSU to keep the scholarship, which she did.

I'm not saying that my children's involvement in FFA will result in a full-ride scholarship, but it sure won't hurt.

When I was in school, the FFA chapter had disbanded, so I didn't have the opportunity to be involved. The local chapter started up again a couple years ago, and hopefully it remains strong, and our children can take full advantage of the opportunities in FFA. And, if a scholarship or two comes their way as a result, that would be just fine.