Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Down in the Valley

Jacob with other FEA team members in March 2009.

This morning Jacob headed down to the Valley to compete in the annual FEA (Future Educators of America) competition at Arizona State University.  This year he submitted a tote bag design and a slide presentation.  Before he left he already knew he isn't a finalist for the slide presentation, but he still has hope for medaling with his design.  I've seen it and I think it is very original and attractive.  Of course, I am his mother!

Last year he took second place for his tee-shirt design (the one being worn by Jacob and the girls in the above photo) and brought home a silver medal.  We're thinking good thoughts for him this year!

March 2009: The team with Ubie, United Blood Services mascot.

The funny thing is, Jacob has no interest at all in becoming a teacher.  He just loves to be involved in clubs.  Besides FEA, he's been a Big Brother in Big Brothers/Big Sisters for 4 years and he's been the president of SADD Club (Students Against Destructive Decisions) for 2 years.  Sometimes he's so busy with club duties that his classwork suffers and I have to get tough on him to rearrange his priorities.  Yet I'm glad he fills his time with worthwhile activities.

Jacob, at right, removes his "Ubie" head.

His biggest role in FEA has to do with their blood drives.  He's the chairman over organizing the drives every few months.  Last year he received an award for collecting so much blood that our school exceeded all their goals.  He also dons the Ubie costume each time they plan a drive, going from classroom to classroom to encourage students, teachers, and administrators to sign up to donate blood.  

Jacob as Ubie on the FEA float for a parade.

He'll be back home tomorrow night.  We can't wait to see how our team does at this year's competition!

1 comment:

Grandma Honey said...

You'll have to let us know how Jacob did. Sounds to me like he is going to be running his own company someday, the way he likes to be so involved in different clubs, and how he takes his leadership responsibilities so seriously.
Looking back on my boys when they were younger, if I had known, I could have seen signs of what they were going to end up doing.