On March 27th Calhoun FFA members travelled to Braxton County High School to compete in the Central Region FFA Leadership Development Events. The regional LDEs include the following competitions: Freshmen Creed, Upperclassmen Creed, Prepared Public Speaking, Extemporaneous Public Speaking, and Parliamentary Procedure. Calhoun FFA had a contestant in both the Prepared and Extemporaneous Public Speaking competitions. Both competitions require incredible amounts of preparation, poise, knowledge, skill, and confidence.
Jaelyn Jett placed first in the Prepared Public Speaking contest with her speech titled, "Because of COVID: Cattle Prices and the Future." In her speech, Jaelyn discussed the effect that the coronavirus had on agriculture as a whole, and especially the cattle market, a topic that greatly interests Jaelyn as an agriculturalist and cattle producer. Jaelyn also defended her speech and views to a panel of judges during a questioning session following her presentation to secure her regional victory.
Lauren Lovejoy placed first in the Extemporaneous Public Speaking contest. In this contest, Lauren selected an agricultural topic at random during the competition and was given 30 minutes to prepare a 4-6 minute speech. The topic she was randomly assigned focused on GPS technology as it pertains to crop production in the US. Lauren then presented her speech to a panel of judges and demonstrated her knowledge on the topic during a 5-minute questioning session to claim her first place victory.
The central region competition includes FFA chapters from Calhoun, Gilmer, Roane, Lewis, Upshur, Braxton, and Clay counties. Calhoun was the only chapter with multiple members securing regional wins at the contest.
As regional champions, both Jaelyn and Lauren will advance on to represent Calhoun FFA and the Central region at their respective state competitions held during the West Virginia State FFA Convention this summer.