Racine Southern FFA Hosts District 10 Public Speaking Career Development Event
Racine Southern FFA Hosts District 10 Public Speaking Career Development Event
Article written and submitted by Braydon Essick, 2022-2023 Racine Southern FFA Reporter
(Pictured above are FFA members who are competing, signing in to their contest and preparing for what’s to come.)
On February 2, 2023 Racine Southern FFA hosted the District 10 Public Speaking Career Development Event. During this event FFA members from our district got the opportunity to come to the contests and compete in one of the four available CDE’s (Career Development Events). Each contest gives the FFA member an opportunity to gain more leadership, communication, and interview skills which are fundamental components of their future. There was a grand total of sixteen schools from Ohio that came to the competition. The four public speaking contest categories were: FFA Creed Speaking, Beginning Prepared Speaking, Prepared Speaking, and Extemporaneous Speaking. Each one of these categories has a scored rubric the judges follow, and a set of requirements required to participate in the contest, but all of them require competitors to come in official dress which is the attire FFA members wear to special events or on special occasions.
The FFA Creed Contest is where the contestant recites the whole FFA Creed in front of judges and then has three minutes to answer questions from the judges that test their knowledge and understanding about the creed. The competition requirements are: must be in the 7th, 8th, or 9th grade and only one FFA member per chapter can participate. The rubric the judges look at consists of three main categories that include: Oral communication, Non-Verbal Communication, and Question and Answer; each with subcategories. The subcategories for Oral communication are: Pace, Tone, Pronunciation, and volume. Subcategories for Non-Verbal Communication include: Eye Contact, Gestures, Mannerisms, and confidence. Question and Answer subcategories consist of: Response to questions, Support, and Knowledge of Agriculture. There was fourteen FFA members that competed in the Creed Contest and the Placing was: 1st-Kallie Boley (Fort Frye), 2nd-Grace Lundy (Oak Hill), 3rd-Katelyn Valandingham (Waterford), 4th-Chole Dick (New Lexington), 5th-Zoe Sercist (Morgan), 6th-Alexis White (Marietta), 7th-Maggie Davis (Gallipolis), 8th-Reagan Wandling (Alexander), 9th-Austin Bare (Racine Southern), 10th-Mckensie Mason (Warren), 11th-Tanner Young (Rivervalley), 12th-Wesley Clagg (Jackson), 13th-Elizabeth Boyd (Federal Hocking), and 14th-Jasymn Brewer (Northwest SCCTC). Kallie Boley will be moving on to the State Contest. Congratulations to all 14 contestants.
The Beginning Prepared Speaking Contest is where an FFA member has no less than five minutes, but no more than seven minutes to say their own speech on an agricultural topic of their choosing, and then have five minutes to answer questions from the judges to test their knowledge and understanding about the topic. In order to qualify in this event the FFA members must be either a Freshmen, Sophomore or first year FFA member that’s a Junior or Senior. The rubric the judges look at consists of three main categories that include: Oral communication, Non-Verbal Communication, and Question and Answer; each with subcategories. Subcategories for Oral communication are: Pace, Tone, Pronunciation, and volume. The subcategories for Non-Verbal Communication include: Eye Contact, Gestures, Mannerisms, and confidence. Question and Answer subcategories consist of: Response to questions, Support, and Knowledge of Agriculture. Four people participated in this contest and their placing positions are as follows: 1st-Bethany Bailey (New Lexington), 2nd-Wiley Palmer (Morgan), 3rd-Gabe Raynor (Gallipolis), and 4th-Julia Silvus (Fort Frye). Bethany Bailey will be moving on to the State Contest. Congratulations to all contestants.
The Advanced Prepared Speaking Contest is where a FFA member has no less than six minutes, but no more than eight minutes to convey their speech on an agricultural topic of their choosing, and then have five minutes to answer questions from the judges to test their knowledge and understanding about the topic. The Main Categories on the score rubric are: Oral communication, Non-Verbal Communication, and Question and Answer; each with subcategories. Subcategories for Oral communication are: Pace, Tone, Pronunciation, and volume. The subcategories for Non-Verbal Communication include: Eye Contact, Gestures, Mannerisms, and confidence. Question and Answer subcategories consist of: Response to questions, Support, and Knowledge of Agriculture. There were six people that participated in this contest and their placing is: 1st-Josie Burke (Waterford), 2nd-Megan Howdyshell (New Lexington), 3rd-Erica Murphy (Morgan), 4th-Aiden Toler (Gallipolis), 5th-Mason Brown (Portsmouth West SCCTC),v and 6th-Mason Arbaugh (Alexander). Josie Burke will be moving on to the State Competition. Congratulations to all contestants.
The Extemporaneous Speaking competition is where a FFA member writes a speech on notecards about an agriculture topic chosen at random the day of the event. They have 30 minutes to prepare these speeches before they present. They then go to another room with different judges and say their speech in no less than four minutes, but no more than six minutes; afterwards the judges ask them questions for five minutes about their understanding and knowledge of the topic. Available topics to be chosen at random are: Agri-Business and Production Systems, Industrial Power Technology, Animal Science Management, Agriculture, Food, Natural Resources Bioscience, Horticulture, and Natural Resource Management. Ten FFA members participated in this event and their placing is: 1st-Emma Lucas (Federal Hocking), 2nd-Alyssa Zornes (Oak Hill), 3rd-Race Bornes (Warren), 4th-Emily Scaff (Portsmouth West SCCTC), 5th-Ava Sheeter (Jackson), 6th-Alison Huck (Waterford), 7th-Kaylee Anderson (New Lexington), 8th-Dusty Dye (Fort Frye), 10th-Shay Wilson (Northwest SCCTC), and 10th-Seth Collins (Eastern). Emma Lucas will be moving onto the State Competition. Every contest for the FFA member competing came with different obstacles, and lessons learned, we would like to wish all of the contestants who are advancing on to the State Contest the best of luck representing our FFA District 10.
(Pictured above is Austin Bare from Racine Southern FFA; Competitor in FFA Creed Contest.)
Racine Southern FFA’s Chapter had Austin Bare compete in the FFA Creed Competition. Austin said, “I learned it’s not that bad to be in front of other people and overcome saying a couple of paragraphs”. He also mentioned that he thinks other FFA members should compete in this event if they’re scared to talk in front of people. “The most difficult part of the competition was the question that they asked,” Austin said. Overall the competitors learned a lot from participating in this event; skills to help them in their future. Most of these skills could help them no matter what they will do in their future.
