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Wow,
what a great and busy week! Today finds me hurrying to get this letter
finished to make the deadline.
Hey,
has anybody seen the Beef lately! There was plenty of it the last five
days in Montgomery at the Alabama Beef Expo and SLE Rodeo. I will send
out photos next month of a few of the highlights.
Every
exhibitor there was a winner! They were able to take a young animal and,
with a lot of feed and time, be able to participate in this show. I hope
the joy was in the journey; remember it is about education, not always
winning.
I
try to make sure that all the kids that I get to spend time with realize
a very important fact when it comes to any show; it is one man’s or
lady’s opinion on one day. If you did not do as well as you wanted,
don’t get discouraged, learn from this and be more prepared next year.
Life is not always perfect and as you become an adult you will see this
more often.
If
you brought a steer to the show, you have had the chance few people have
in life. That is to learn valuable lessons while adding to our food
supply chain. If you brought a heifer, hopefully she will go back to
your herd and be a productive cow for many years, raising even better
projects.
Again,
Congratulations to all the exhibitors and Thank You to all
of the parents, grandparents and volunteers that give of their time and
money to help us lead and direct the next generation of Cattlemen and
Cattlewomen.
On
a different note! So, What Have You Learned Lately?
Kids Who
Learn Follow
Adults’ Examples
People
in the know often say: "It’s tough being a kid these days."
Surely, it’s always been tough. We look back longingly at the
"Ozzie and Harriet" years and may not remember that the teen
pregnancy rate and family poverty rates were much greater in those
golden days. And many of us from rural backgrounds know all about the
mind-numbing, backbreaking labor that faced previous generations of farm
youth.
But
there are special challenges for young people in the 21st century. The
world moves far more rapidly and is a far smaller place. Who would have
guessed that international names like Mercedes and Hyundai would feature
so prominently in our local Alabama economy? Who would have guessed that
cell phones, Blackberries and laptops would be such vital parts of our
daily routines?
In
this world, the love of learning is one of the most important gifts we
can give our children. Every mom or dad has those moments when they see
themselves reflected in their child. Maybe Johnny wants to play baseball
because that’s what Daddy did. Maybe Susie sits around and watches
television because that’s what Mom and Dad do. That "monkey see,
monkey do" pattern holds true for the example we set in our
attitude toward knowledge.
For
our kids’ future success, the research shows that it is crucial for
adult role models to exhibit their own personal commitment to learning.
Kids read more and read better if they see that their parents read. And
while "book learning" is more important than it has ever been,
there are all sorts of ways we can show our kids how we learn. There is
the "hands-on learning" when we pick up a new technical skill
like digital photography. There is a natural interest in other cultures
that can be tapped through family travel.
Learning
can lead you wherever your curiosity focuses: Roman history or cake
decoration, ostrich farming or Civil War battlefields. And what about as
a family spending one night a week learning Spanish? Can you imagine a
better learning environment for kids and adults — or a better skill to
carry into our evolving society?
If
it’s tough being a kid, it’s equally tough being a parent. By
building good communications and helping one another grow, we can evolve
into wiser, better human beings, no matter how old or how young we are. |
