Twenty Sobrato High School students, proudly donning their blue and gold corduroy Future Farmers of America jackets, performed admirably at the Santa Clara Sectional Public Speaking Competition, held Feb. 11 at San Benito High School in Hollister.
Some even advanced to the Regional Competition, set for March 24.
The four speaking competitions students participated in were FFA Creed, Impromptu, Extemporaneous, and Prepared Public Speaking, all of which teach participants useful skills for the future such as preparation, memorization and the ability to speak clearly and confidently with a short amount of time to prepare.
Creed
The Creed competition is reserved for freshmen and first-year FFA members and requires competitors to memorize and recite all five paragraphs of the FFA Creed, written by E.M. Tiffany and adopted in 1930.
Among 20 participants, four out of the top 10 competitors were Sobrato students: Montana Juarez (10th), Trevor King (7), Emily Tercero (6), Shalimar McGinnis (5), and the first-place exhibitor Myan Lam, who previously won first place at the Santa Clara RCD speaking contest. All four qualified for the Regional Competition in March.
Impromptu
Impromptu is a contest in which sophomore members are given a question or topic and are expected to answer it on the spot in the allotted time. They are then asked three questions related to their answer to this topic.
Among the top six placers were Sobrato’s Sarah King (6th), Alec Govea (5), and Jared Mandrell (4), who will represent Sobrato at Regionals.
Extemporaneous
In Extemporaneous Public Speaking, junior or senior members draw one of 20 questions that they have compiled articles and information for in a 100-page binder, and are given 30 minutes to write and memorize a 4- to 6-minute speech, followed by five minutes of questions.
Out of 10 participants, Sobrato was represented by Ryan Scocca (7th), Cooper Foreman (5), Megan Rottenborn (2) and senior Emmanuel Calivo in first place. Calivo, Sobrato FFA’s Chapter President and MHUSD’s student of the year, will move on and represent Sobrato at the Regional Competition.
Prepared Public Speaking
The final competition, Prepared Public Speaking, is offered to junior and senior members, and requires participants to write and fully memorize a lengthy speech of six to eight minutes, followed by five minutes of questions. Out of five competitors, Sobrato FFA junior and Vice President Jenna Fields impressed the judges and came away with first place and us headed to Regionals as well.
Megan Rottenborn is the Sobrato FFA Reporter.
