More Feature Articles
January 2010
-Creature-Focused Careers
-Former Members Reflect: Dr. Dwight Armstrong
-Levy Randolph
-Safety on Speed Dial
-Preserving Their Culture
-Off and Away
November 2009
-Former Members Reflect: Emilie Bocker
-Turn That Down!
-Car Smarts
-So Much Cooler Online
-Laila Hajji
-The Water Way
-A Greater Cause
June 2009
-Stretch Your Summer Income
-Riley Branch
-Turn That Down
-Behind-The-Scenes Star
May 2009
-Welcoming Women
-Regina Holliday
-Job Interview Jitters
-So Much Cooler Online
-Questioning Your College Choices?
-A Can-Do Attitude
-Former Members Reflect: Michele Payn-Knoper
April 2009
-Hannah Crossen
-Cowboy Book With a Cause
-From FFA to 33Miles
-There’s Cash in Your Future
-I’m Angry…Now What?
-For the Love of Landscaping
-Perfect Balance
-Gardening For A Cause
February 2009
-Blue-Ribbon Banjo Player
-FFA as an Art Form
-Wild About Animals
-Nessie Early
-Be a PAL
-Full Throttle
-Living to Serve
-Special Invitation
January 2009
-All About National FFA Week
-Paul Moya
-Justin Floyd
-Partners for the Planet
-Finding Balance
-Swimming in Aquaculture
-Breaking Records
-Take It Slow
December 2008
-National FFA convention to rotate homes
November 2008
-Dr. Al Snyder
-Scholarship Secrets
-Gear Up for National FFA Week
-Kari Boettcher
-Resist Peer Pressure
-Good to the Last Crop
-All Creatures, Great and Small
-Sparking Interest
September 2008
-Agriculture Accuracy
-Crissa Fruechte
-Brady Revels
-Get Up!
-Proceed With Caution
-All in Good Taste
-Clutch Performance
-Step Right Up
July 2008
-Take It to a New Level
-Deep-Rooted Interest
-Take a Deep Breath
-Tyler Tenbarge
-Inspired by FFA
-On the Right Track
May 2008
-In the Vault
-Your Money: Keeping Records
-National Officer Q&A
-We’re All Unique
-Best in Show
-Grab Life by the Reins
March 2008
-Call to Order!
-Reality Check
-Turtle Power
-By the Numbers
-Dale Darling
-A Token of Appreciation
-National Officer Q&A
January 2008
-National Officer Q&A
-Back Talk: Paul McCutchan
-Building Bright Futures
November 2007
-National Officer Q&A
-Back Talk: Corey Flournoy
-Biofuels Mean Business
-Go, Team, Go
-A Tractor Tradition
October 2007
-National Officer Q&A
-Back Talk: Kristie VerMulm
-Give them an A+
-Cranberry Crazy
-Racing to Indy
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Take It Slow
Slow Down – Save Gas
January 2009
FFA members in San Diego County, Calif., are teaming up to save money and the planet. “Slow Down – Save Gas” is a promotion that started at Carlsbad High School and quickly gained support at nearby San Marcos High School. By displaying five fingers outside their vehicles’ windows, San Diego County students are encouraging other motorists to drive 55 mph on the highway.
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At the 2008 San Marcos county fair, San Marcos FFA members began recruiting fellow FFA members to join the movement to drive the freeways and highways at 55 miles per hour, holding their left hand out the window showing all five fingers spread in a gesture intended to urge fellow motorist to also slow to 55 mph.
“In Lakeside, we understand the economic impact of high gas prices,” says Sean Robinson, past president of El Capitan FFA and one of the students recruited to the “Slow Down - Save Gas” movement at this year’s San Diego County Fair.
Typically, the students who raise livestock will spend many days at the fairground during the three week-long event, particularly the last week when their animals are judged and auctioned off.
“In the past we would shuttle back and forth to Lakeside, but this year we rented a place to park our RV and are staying here the entire time just to save the cost of gas,” says the high school senior who has raised market hogs, sheep, beef, dairy goats for goat’s milk and market goat for eating which are sold at the Del Mar Fair.
Gibert, the pig used by the El Cap students to publicize the Slow Down – Save Gas movement with a bumper sticker on his rump and a sign saying “don’t be a gas hog – slow down” was one of 25 piglets born to Robinson’s three breeding females which he sold to fellow students in the Lakeside area.
“The bottom line is that slowing down can save you some bacon,” says both Katie and Kennady Wagner, whose father, Dave, a long haul truck driver, has taught them the economic value of “slow and easy on the gas pedal” firsthand. Their mom, Kim, is a school bus driver who never exceeds 55 mph, both for fuel economy and safety reasons.
The recognition that by simply slowing down you can extend your gas mileage spread quickly among the various high school groups at the fair.
Dina Davis, one of the San Marcos students promoting the Slow Down – Save Gas movement, says “As it spreads around San Diego County, we hope it will begin to spread nationwide.”
For more information about the Slow Down, Save Gas movement, contact Helen Nielsen-Eckfield at (760) 602-9906 or email .
Learn more about saving gas at http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/driveHabits.shtml.
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