Items in this listserv:
HOT TOPICS - MUST KNOW:
HOT, HOT, HOT - How HOT you ask??? SUNBURN HOT - So HOT you gotta get the aloe from the fridge HOT.
Illinois FFA Board Reports
National Finalists this year - 2025 National Finalist Selection Results
Illinois FFA 100th Anniversary Memorabilia - Click here to complete the form
IL FFA Alumni and Supporters Scholarship Applications and Letter of Recommendations for WLC & Ground Zero and Outstanding Alumni Chapter & Member Applications are due Monday, November 3, 2025.
****NEW Information****
Conference Teacher Supervisors
October FFA Board Meeting Report & Update
Illinois FFA Center Intern Positions
Upcoming Registration Open & Close Dates & How to Print Your Invoice
National FFA Quiz Contest Invitational
National Security Language Initiative for Youth
Take the Syngenta Plunge! DUNK Illinois FFA State Officers & State Staff at National Convention!
Conference Teacher Supervisors
Conference Facilitators need your help! In an effort to allow conference facilitators and team leaders to dedicate their time and attention to providing the best experience possible for members, we need additional assistance managing student logistics during the conferences.
Teacher Assistants will be requested to supervise student programming each day in return for a free advisor registration. Multiple advisors will be selected for larger conferences to share supervision responsibilities. Advisors would sit in the conference room for sessions to coordinate role calls with team leaders, ensuring students are in their correct groups, elevate any behavior issues to conference staff, elevate any mental health issues to conference counselor, elevate any health issues to the conference nurse, assist in corresponding with other advisors as necessary to assist with student issues, assist with capturing photos during the event, ensure students are not leaving designated conference facilities, and routinely walk conference facilities to ensure students are in session.
Click here to sign up to serve as a conference teacher assistant. Upon selection, credits will be applied to chapter invoices.
October FFA Board Meeting Report and Update
Click here to view the October 14, 2025, Illinois FFA Board Report.
Illinois FFA Center Intern Positions
The Illinois FFA Center will hire Summer Interns for the Summer of 2026 to assist the center in completing and coordinating various events and activities. Again this year, we are excited to offer the legislative internship created by the generous contributions in memory of Bill Johnson.
Please click here to see the postings for both internships. If you know of someone who may be interested in this opportunity, please share this information with them. Thank you for your time and for passing this information along.
Application Deadline: November 7, 2025.
Interviews will be held on December 1, 2025.
Upcoming JudgingCard Registration Dates & How to Print Your Invoice
State Food Science Mandatory Registration: Ends Friday, October 24, 2025, at 11:59 p.m.
Fall Middle School Conference Registration Close Dates:
Lincoln Land Community College Ends Monday, October 27, 2025, at 11:59 p.m.
Richland Comm. College Conference Ends Friday, October 31, 2025, at 11:59 p.m.
BUILD Conference, Illinois State University, Registration Ends Monday, November 10, 2025
All Conference Information and Hotel Room Blocks for the BUILD Conference: Room Blocks close starting October 25th.
State Dairy Foods Mandatory Registration & State Agronomy CDEs Registration opens
Wednesday, November 5th at 8:00 a.m. All CDE/LDE Registration Instructions
Ground Zero Conference Registrations: All are open. If you plan to apply for an alumni
scholarship, you can submit your registration, but please hold off on paying your invoice until the winners are announced after November 8th.
How to print your invoice? Go into JudgingCard, choose your event, and click “Online Registration” to print your registration/invoice page (sample). For IL FFA Conferences, be sure to have Hopper applied (email tyard@illinoisffa.org). If you are registering for a Ground Zero Conference, email tmullins@illinoisffa.org to get your Golden Ticket applied before printing/paying the invoice. Event/Registration Questions/Changes email pdavis@illinoisffa.org.
National FFA Quiz Contest Invitational: Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Additional Information can be found here:
National Security Language Initiative for Youth
Greetings from American Councils for International Education!
Applications are open now for the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) and FLEX Abroad programs! Through these merit-based scholarship programs, U.S. high school students study abroad, learn another language, develop leadership skills, engage with other cultures, and participate in citizen diplomacy. Previous language study is not required. 2026-2027 program offerings include:
National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) offers intensive overseas immersion programs for U.S. high school students to learn Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Korean, or Russian for a summer or academic year. NSLI-Y increase the number of young Americans with critical language skills, intercultural competence, and leadership abilities to contribute to U.S. national security and economic competitiveness. Participants attend language classes, live with host families, participate in cultural activities, and serve as U.S. citizen ambassador abroad. Applicants may choose to apply for Summer (6-8 weeks) and/or Academic Year (8-10 months) programs. Information about eligibility can be found here. Application deadline: November 12, 2025)
FLEX Abroad offers young Americans a unique opportunity for personal and professional growth, helping cultivate the next generation of leaders. Participants spend an academic year (10 months) in strategically important countries living with a host family and attending a local high school. As citizen diplomats, students develop their language, communication, and problem-solving skills and serve as cultural ambassadors, sharing U.S. culture and traditions. FLEX Abroad locations are: Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Poland. (Application deadline: December 8, 2025)
We hope that you can share this information through your networks and with interested students, parents, teachers, and schools. Questions may be directed to highschoolstudyabroad@americancouncils.org or you may call 1-800-380-6552.
For your convenience, we have provided social media posts and captions below. At this time, please only link the post to program websites - www.nsliforyouth.org or www.discoverflex.org/flex-abroad.
Thank you,
The NSLI-Y and FLEX Abroad teams at American Councils
Sample captions:
Are you interested in spending a summer or academic year learning a critical language abroad to support U.S. national security? The NSLI-Y 2026-2027 application is now available! The deadline is November 12. For more information and to apply, visit www.nsliforyouth.org.
Attention all language enthusiasts! #NSLIY application is now available for scholarships to study Arabic, Chinese, Korean, and Russian abroad for a summer or academic year. The application deadline is November 12. Find more info at www.nsliforyouth.org.
The 2026-2027 NSLI-Y and FLEX Abroad application is now open! These scholarship programs provide opportunities for U.S. high school students to learn languages, live with host families, develop leadership skills, and serve as a U.S. citizen ambassador abroad for a summer or Academic Year. Apply today at https://ais.americancouncils.org/highschoolstudyabroad
Take the Syngenta Plunge! DUNK Illinois FFA State Officers & State Staff at National Convention!
What’s the Syngenta State Plunge?
It’s your chance to dunk State Officers & State Staff from OUR state association — all for a great cause!
No water involved — just tons of fun!
The state with the most dunks wins $2,500 for their foundation!
Stop by the Syngenta booth when ILLINOIS is in the tank and help us rack up those dunks.
Wednesday, October 29, 2026 - 2:20 - 3:10 p.m. — don’t miss your chance to make a splash (without getting wet)
*** PREVIOUS Information Shared - WORTH Sharing Again****
PREVIOUS LISTSERVS - CLICK HERE to view - 2025 - 2026 School Year
2024 - 2025 School Year - CLICK HERE
New Information for 2025-26 (Updates 10/16/25):
All Conference Event Information, Flyers, Required Forms, Registration Information
2025-26 Calendar of Events: All events, including board meetings, conferences, conventions, registration deadlines, etc.