Student Officers

Sam Tenpenny - President

Emily Miller – Vice President

Dani Bagshaw – Secretary/Treasurer

A note from your Student President:

With the fall rodeos in the books, holiday festivities behind us, and spring break in our sights that can only mean one thing…it’s rodeo time once again! I hope you all enjoyed the Fall season and are looking forward to gearing up for a busy Spring run. We have seven rodeos this Spring beginning with Kingman on March 13^th.

This year brings new excitement to our association as our State Finals move from their 54-year home in Topeka to Hutchinson, Kansas for the first time. Not only has the location changed, but there are also exciting new changes on tap for the schedule throughout the week. The first two rounds will be run on Thursday and Friday, with the Top-15 returning for the short go Saturday evening. There will be a "Breakfast of Champions" held Sunday morning followed by the year-end awards ceremony. In addition to the new site and schedule, State Finals will still host the annual picnic, Tough Enough to Wear Pink Night, the announcement of the Fronteir Farm Credit Academic Team, and of course, the crowning of our 2010 State Champions and National Team!

On another somewhat suprising note regarding State Finals - I was not aware until the Mid-Winter meeting what all it takes to put on our State Finals – both financially and coordination. It will cost approximately $90,000 to put on our finals. $90,000!!! This amount includes our awards, stock contractors, personnel, judges, and everything else it takes to put on such production. Our organization needs our help! We as memebers need to go out and bring in sponsoship dollars to help reach this goal. Keep in mind, the member who acquires the most sponsorship money receives $300, 2^nd place receives $200, and 3^rd place receives $100. The calendars and gas card raffles raise a significant amount for the association, but this goal cannot be met without sponsorships and the initiative of our members.

As the spring schedule quickly approaches, I want to remind you all to pay close attention to a few dates and deadlines. If you did not get your calendar stubs and gas card raffle tickets turned into Trela Minium or Brenda Lagasse by January 15^th you need to get those in ASAP (along with a $50 late fee). You will not be able to enter a spring rodeo until those are turned in. The Spring hospital release forms and fall semester grade cards are also required before you can compete. Make sure to get those to Val no later than March 1^st. One final deadline to keep an eye on is April 1^st – the date all sponsorship money is due. And, speaking of sponsorships, please be sure to show your support and gratitude towards our association sponsors as often as you can. We couldn’t do what we do with out them!

It is never to early to start thinking about running for student office or an event director position for the coming rodeo year. Having served as both an event director and officer(s), I can tell you how much of a rewarding experience it is. If you are interested in getting involved and have any questions, please contact myself, Emily, Dani, or an event director as we are all glad to help.

One final note I have is directed towards my fellow seniors. Tami Boekhaus and Terri Thomas have agreed to put together our senior slide show to be shown at State Finals. They are asking each senior member to provide a baby, senior, and family photo as well as any other pictures you have of your high school rodeo days that you would like to have in the video. These can include junior rodeo pictures, group shots of rodeo friends, pictures with sponsors, etc. You can email these to Tami at tboekhaus@usd217.org or bring them to Kingman. They will scan the pictures and return the originals to you. Tami and Terri are asking for these pictures as soon as possible, preferably before March 1^st. In addition to pictures, they would also like to know what your future plans are - such as which college you will be attending, field of study, military plans, future plans, etc. Make sure to thank these ladies as this is a huge, very time consuming undertaking!

I want to wish you all the very best of luck and safe travel this Spring. Don’t forget to call in for Kingman if you did not write in the book at Emporia. Call in is Wednesday, March 3^rd from 6-10 p.m and March 4th from 6-10 pm(620-431-2845).

Good luck and I hope to see you all at Kingman!

Sam Tenpenny
Student President

2-1-10

Student Event Directors 2009 -2010

Goats

Jordin Stephens

Tie Down Roping

Ty-Jones Davis

Girls Breakaway Roping

Angela Bartley

Jessica Miller

Bareback Riding

Wyatt Stanley

Saddle Bronc

Dalton Cooper

Steer Wrestling

Chris Kessler

Tyrel Moffitt

Poles

Kyre Larrabee

Cassidy Hampton

Bull Riding

Chase Hamlin

Barrels

Cheyenne Veatch

Team Roping

Hunter Bayse

Casey Hatcher