LIMOUSIN TODAY November 2017 | Página 24

Juniors
Own Your Community
By Brooke Falk, NALJA director
Hello Juniors! I hope you have
all had a great start to your
school year. It seems like only
yesterday we were all in Grand
Island. Less than a week after
leaving the junior national show,
I found myself sitting in the 5.4.7
Art Center in Greensburg, Kan.
Not exactly the first place you
expect animal science majors to
be visiting, but this was the first
stop of the Kansas State Animal
Sciences Leadership Academy
(KASLA) premier program.
Why start a tour of animal
agriculture of western Kansas
in an art center in Greensburg?
Well, as the name of the program
indicates, leadership studies
are also an important part of
the program. Greensburg had a
unique and tragic event occur
that tested that leadership of
this small community. In 2007,
the town was destroyed by a F5
tornado. Years later, scars of this
event are still present. However,
this community has made
tremendous strides to come back
better than before by focusing on
becoming a green community.
Two men that helped in this
comeback are current Mayor Bob
Dixon and City Councilman Gene
West. These two where the first
two presenters for the KASLA
premier program. They recalled
helping reorganize a community
in chaos and how they planned
the rebuilding of many aspects of
the town.
22 | NOVEMBER 2017
Although there were many
memorable quotes during my
time at the program, Mayor Bob
Dixon’s has stuck with me. He
stated, “you either own your
community or you rent it. Own
your community.” He was talking
about the physical community
you live in. If you are involved in
bettering your community, you
own it. On the other hand, if you
rent your community, you just
simply exist there.
Limousin juniors are a community
of their own. I encourage you
all to own this community by
getting involved. This could be
running for a position on the
national board or simply helping
another junior clean stalls in
the evening. There are so many
opportunities to own your
Limousin community! Don’t just
go through the motions of being
at a show, that is just renting your
community. No matter how small
the task, own your community.
Own all your communities. If I can
be of any assistance in helping
you own your community,
please contact me. I hope that
you have a good semester and I
look forward to seeing you all at
Limousin events throughout this
year! I
NALJA Board of Directors
President: Ethan Freund, CO
[e-mail]
303-502-4605
Vice President: Callie Hicks, KY
[e-mail]
859-699-3893
Secretary: Randa Taylor, TX
[e-mail]
817-504-6927
Treasurer: Dominic Ruppert, IL
[e-mail]
217-254-2558
Ex-Officio: Anna Johnson, MN
[e-mail]
218-640-1117
Director: Katie Hurt, KY
[e-mail]
859-475-7510
Director: Aaron Linhart, IA
[e-mail]
641-414-5060
Director: Lindsey Gulotta, LA
[e-mail]
985-351-7674
Director: Hannah Ziegler, OH
[e-mail]
419-618-2441
Director: Brooke Falk, KS
[e-mail]
785-817-2214
Staff Advisor: Katie Campbell
[e-mail], 913-683-1415
Adult Advisor: Jim Bob Hendrickson
[e-mail]
918-521-9031