On Jan. 29, 15 Gilroy FFA members traveled to San Benito High School to compete against five other schools at the annual sectional Super Saturday LDE competition.
Through Leadership Development Events, participating FFA members in grades 9 to 12 are challenged to develop critical thinking skills and effective decision-making skills, foster teamwork and promote communication while recognizing the value of ethical competition and individual achievement. LDE events occur at the local, state and national levels.
We had eight students compete in the Creed LDE. The Creed Speaking Leadership Development Event recognizes outstanding FFA members in ninth grade for their ability to present the FFA Creed from memory and answer three questions related to it. The eight freshmen that participated were Brady Reed* (second place), Caitlyn Correia* (sixth place), Oliva Epps* (seventh place), Sawyer Tankersley* (ninth place), Dylan Johnson* (10th place), Kendall Driscoll, Daniel Garamendi and Angelina Caldera.
Two students competed in the Impromptu LDE. The intention of the Impromptu Contest is to offer a more realistic, practical speaking contest to better prepare our students for public statements, media coverage, and general questions about the FFA and agricultural industry. The two sophomores that participated were Aleeya Jones and Cecelia Method (first place).
Catarina Correia, Yesenia Garcia (third place), and Mackenzie Van Laar (fourth place) competed in the Job Interview LDE competition. The purpose of the FFA Job Interview Event is for FFA members to develop, practice and demonstrate skills needed while seeking employment in the agricultural industry.
Last but not least we had two students compete in the Extemporaneous LDE. During this event, participants draw from 18 agricultural topics then select three of interest. From those three, a student selects the topic of their speech and has 30 minutes to prepare using five resources. Participants then present a four- to six-minute speech on their topic to a panel of judges. After their speech, students answer five minutes worth of questions on the topic they just presented. Maribel Garcia (fifth place) and Lindsey Williams (sixth place) competed in this event.
We are so proud of all of our competitors and cannot wait to see how our members thrive at the upcoming regional competition on March 3 in King City.
Maribel Garcia is the 2021-2022 Gilroy FFA Chapter Officer.
