A few FFA members went to Aurora High School for districts, the team took individual speeches to be judged on public speaking. Senior, Brooke Heavin went the furthest and is on to state, she and three other members competed in different speeches based on the topic of research they chose. 

 To make districts, the members form a speech and then present it in front of judges, to move on, they have to make the top three of the competitors in their area. Heavin said, “At districts you give a 6-8 [minute] prepared speech and answering questions on your topic for your respective division. In the preliminary round, you are divided into two groups and the top two speakers from each group make it to finals. Then we have finals and they rank the top 4 competitors. The first place competitor makes it on to state.”

Preparing for districts is all about knowing your topic, researching and having enough knowledge to answer on the spot questions that go outside the information in the speech. The topics you can choose to research are, cattlemen’s, pork producers, pet breeders, sheep producers, soil & water conservation, young farmers/young farm wives, farm bureau, institute of cooperatives, teach AG [Agriculture], and quarter horses. 

Heavin did advance to state which means she will continue to take notes, improve her speech and take more time to learn more about her topic, “The division of my speech was Cattlemen’s, and the specific topic of my speech is about young individuals entering the cattle industry,” commented Heavin. She is changing different phrases in her speech to sound more professional. She is the first person in a very long time to advance to state for Fair Grove. As it was an individual competition, she alone placed first in her division and is excited to be able to present in state.