Mendo Lake Section FFA hosts speaking competition
On Feb. 7, the Mendo Lake Section FFA hosted the Sectional Leadership Development Event (LDE) contest at Mendocino College in Ukiah.
Many FFA chapters from around the area brought competitors to compete in the following contests: Creed, Spanish Creed, Job Interview, Extemporaneous, Prepared Speech, and Impromptu.
This contest is held every winter and has been hosted at Mendocino College for the last three years. The support from Mendocino College has been wonderful to secure a great place for the contest. As well, each contest is held with a team of three to four judges, as the top four from each contest move on to the North Coast Regional LDE Contest in March.
As a Section we are incredibly proud of our competitors for getting out of their comfort zone and making the judges work hard.
The Creed Contest is open to 7th — 8th grade students and they compete by presenting the FFA Creed and answering questions. The placing for Creed are as follows: Izaeh Taylor from Kelseyville FFA placed first, second place was taken by Zoe Bennet of Anderson Valley FFA, and third by Bridget Aiello from Potter Valley FFA.
Congratulations to everyone who participated, as the Creed, especially Spanish Creed, is a very challenging recital that requires a lot of dedication and practice! In Spanish Creed, Aylin Aguilar from Kelseyville FFA took first place, Ashley Castro of Lower Lake FFA placed second, and Marisol Gutierrez from Lower Lake FFA placed third. Great job to all of you!
In the Job Interview com
petition, Lilly Wiser from Kelseyville FFA placed in first place, followed by Ariana Gonzales of Lower Lake FFA in second place. In third place, Kimberly Gunther from Kelseyville FFA took the title. As there were more competitors in this section of the LDE than any other (almost 30 rather than the usual almost 20), this was a very competitive competition. Congratulations to three of the FFA members that placed!
The Extemporaneous Speaking contest is very challenging as a student chooses a topic and writes their speech in 30 minutes. Afterwards, they present their speech to the judges. Ryan Taylor from Kelseyville FFA placed first, followed by Sofia Perez from Willits FFA in second and third place taken by Bobbie Nunez of Willits FFA. We
would like to acknowledge and congratulate each and every FFA member from the Mendo-Lake section that participated and we could not be more proud of you!
Only open to our Sophomores is the Impromptu Contest during which students choose a topic, question or quote and present a 2-3 minute answer. First place was taken by Sofia Cruz from Upper Lake FFA. Second place went to Michelle Ramirez of Kelseyville FFA, followed by Camila Martin from Upper Lake FFA in third place. We would like all of the competitors to know that they did an amazing job and that we are very proud of them, too. Congratulations all!
Lastly the Prepared Speech Contest is one where a student writes an indepth research paper on an agriculture topic. They then memorize and present it to the judges. In the Prepared Speech Competition, Nicholas Del Barso from Kelseyville FFA placed first, followed by Alee Beckstead of Lower Lake FFA in second place. Lastly, third place was achieved by Dayona Estrada from Willits FFA. Congratulations to all of you!
We would like to give a special shout out to all of the Mendo Lake FFA Agriculture teachers who put this event together. It is obvious that they spent a lot of hard work, time, and effort to ensure that this event was successful and organized. Congratulations to each and every one of the Mendo Lake Section FFA members who competed in the Sectional LDE and good luck at the Regional Contest in March.