The National FFA Organization is the premier youth organization focused on preparing members for leadership and careers in the science, business, and technology of agriculture. Leadership Development Events, better known as LDEs, are competitions for middle school and high school students that are held at the District, Sectional, State, and National levels.
Amherst FFA sent members to Pittsville, Wis., for the District 19 LDE Competition on Jan. 20. Students competed in an array of events. Here is a rundown of those events and the Amherst students who participated.
Creed Speaking Competition: The Creed Speaking LDE develops the public speaking abilities of FFA members as well as develop their self-confidence and contribute to their advancement in the FFA degree program. This is a competition open to middle school and freshmen members. They must recite the five paragraphs of the FFA Creed by memory. Afterward, judges will ask the member questions regarding the Creed. They are judged based on public speaking abilities and knowledge of the Creed.
Amherst FFA member Allison Raddatz, who is a freshman this year, competed in this event.
Discussion Meet Competition: This LDE is designed for FFA members to demonstrate their problem solving and speaking skills on agricultural-related topics within a timely manner. FFA members do research on topics given to them by Wisconsin FFA. When the competition starts, the Sectional State Officer announces the topic selected. Competitors are now expected to give opening statements regarding the agricultural issue selected, followed by a group discussion for competitors to come up with a solution to the problem. This competition simulates a committee meeting, and the winner of the competition is the student who was recognized by the judges as the committee chair — in other words, it is the one who is getting everyone involved in the discussion and keeping everyone on task.
FFA members Deqlund Waltenberg (junior) and Faith Sopa (senior) competed in this event. Sopa won the event and will be moving onto the Sectional competition.
Extemporaneous Speaking Competition: Extemporaneous Speaking develops the ability of all FFA members to express themselves on a given subject without having prepared or rehearsed its content in advance, therefore causing FFA members to formulate their remarks for presentation in a very limited amount of time. FFA members go into a holding room, pick three agriculture-related questions from a bin, then pick their favorite one out of those three. Members then have 30 minutes to give a 4-6 minute speech to the judges. At the conclusion of their speech, judges have five minutes to ask questions to the speaker regarding their topic.
Amherst FFA members Faith Sopa and junior Kendall Kirsling competed in this event. Sopa won the competition and will be moving onto the Sectionals.
Prepared Public Speaking: The LDE for Prepared Public Speaking encourages agricultural leadership by providing for member participation in agricultural public speaking activities and stimulating interest in leadership and citizenship. Members get to choose their own topic to speak on, conduct a 6-8 minute memorized speech, and present that to judges. Competitors are judged based on content relevance, public speaking abilities, and overall knowledge of their chosen topic.
Amherst FFA member Jozlyn Stuczynski (junior) competed and won this event, so she will be moving on to Sectionals.
Quiz Bowl (Middle School Event): The Quiz Bowl LDE ghelps middle/junior high school FFA members gain key information about the FFA organization. Members need to study knowledge regarding FFA history, current state officers, the motto, emblem, and other key aspects of FFA. Amherst FFA sent two middle school quiz bowl teams.
Team 1 was made up of Josie Taylor, Mia Paulson, Naudia Davis, and Zoe Dambroski. Team 2 was comprised of Emmy Ostrowski, Olivia Groshek, and Natalie Fry. Team 2 placed second and will be moving on to the Sectional competition.
Public speaking is frequently cited at the top most common fear worldwide. Whether students are moving on to the sectional competition or not, all FFA members who competed learned skills, challenged their own abilities, and most importantly had fun. If you see any of these students, congratulate them on a job well done!
