[Serena Fuson, EDUHSD]
On Saturday, January 20, 2018, 7 students from the Ponderosa FFA Chapter competed in 3 different public speaking competitions at the sectional level. The contest was held at Elk Grove High School and serves as the speaking finals for the 12 schools in our Sacramento Section. Each school is able to bring up to 4 competitors per contest.
The freshman level competition is called the FFA creed speaking contest. Students must memorize and recite a 5 paragraph creed and answer questions concerning agriculture and leadership. The sophomore level contest is called impromptu. Students have less than 2 minutes once they walk in the room, choose a topic, and perform a 2 minute speech in front of a panel of judges in the subjects of agriculture, leadership, and current issues. Finally, the junior level competition is called extemporaneous public speaking. Students walk into a room and have 30 minutes to prepare and perform a 4-6 minute speech. Of the possible 32 students per competition, only the top 4 move on to compete at the regional level.
Our Ponderosa FFA Chapter students worked very hard and placed as follows at the Sacramento Section Speaking Competition:
FFA Creed:
1st Place - Jada Lang
*Second year running we have taken 1st in this contest
Impromptu Public Speaking:
1st Place - Chris Archibald
3rd Place - Zach Perez
5th Place - Jenna Love (Alternate)
*3rd year running we have taken 1st in this contest
Extemporaneous Public Speaking:
2nd Place- Maggie Hammock
FFA Advisors and Speaking Coaches, Isaac Valencia and Andrea Sawyer, said “We are incredibly proud of our students and all of their hard work. Please wish them luck as we continue to practice and train for the Regional Speaking Contest to be held in late March.”
