Future Farmers of America (FFA) is a nationwide high school organization that provides students with an opportunity to learn and expand their interest within the livestock and agriculture community. FFA helps students by developing their leadership skills and providing them with the skills required to care for the animals they raise. FFA also leads members and future generations towards success through oratory and leadership skills.
“FFA is very community-oriented, due to all the activities we have to do, that make us work together,” Nipomo High School student Brielle Keller (‘28) said.
On December 4, 2024, Arroyo Grande High School hosted the FFA speaking competition. Because all the speaking events are sectional events, eight local high schools including Nipomo, Lompoc, Pioneer Valley, Cuyama Valley, Santa Maria, Santa Ynez, and Righetti arrived at AGHS to compete, with a total of approximately 400 students. The students utilized classrooms in the 300 and 400 wings to perform their prepared speeches to a judge.
“One of the reasons [FFA students] do public speaking is because it’s a requirement for the students to show their animal at the fair,”Agricultural Chemistry teacher and FFA advisor Lacee Holloway said. “Having an animal to show at the fair is a lot of responsibility because you’re taking care of a life, and having to do the public speaking teaches them responsibility and commitment.”
The speeches are responses to specific questions regarding grade level and future careers.
Freshmen are a part of the Creed level of the speaking contest. This level divides into two parts which are Spanish and English Creed. Spanish Creed is an option for native Spanish-speaking students who are a part of FFA to do the same thing as English Creed. Creed involves writing a 5 paragraph essay, including writing about an FFA state of belief.
“Volunteering in the speaking contest helps you get more involved and being eligible for being a part of FFA,” Pioneer Valley High School student Jenifer said.
The sophomore contest is called Impromptu. Impromptu is used to test students’ speaking abilities. The contest is also meant to improve the competitors’ self confidence.
Juniors and seniors compete in Exempt and mock Job Interviews. The Job Interview is designed for FFA to develop on-the-spot thinking and speaking skills for future careers or jobs. Exempt involves a student getting handed a note to go inside a room, get a question, and get 30 minutes to respond. Then, the student gets notes and has to answer the question to the judge.
Noah Boghosian, a junior at AGHS and FFA president, was given a question regarding how drones can help agriculture and improve agricultural communities. He was allowed to research on a computer for 10 minutes and do all the steps regarding the Exempt presentation process.
FFA encourages the students to speak in the contest to help them develop good presentation skills and advocate for agriculture education. It is also meant for students to expand their knowledge in agriculture management and improve their communication skills.
“It also teaches students to connect with others, because they compete against local chapters,” Holloway said.
When the students speak to the judges, the judge scores the competitors on speaking, presenting, and communicating. If the students do well speaking for the judges, they get to move on somewhere else to compete. FFA students at the AGHS competition who did well moved on to King City to compete.
“[Overall,] AGHS FFA students claim we could have done better for Impromptu,” Treasurer of FFA Dally Settle (‘27) said. “Yet, we tried our best to present, when it came to our after school performance.”
Some AGHS students moved onto King City, including Skylar Ferguson (‘28), Sydney Munro (‘28), Arianna Ramirez (‘28) for Creed, Madi Aanerud (‘26) for Job Interview, and Noah Boghosian (‘26) for Exempt.
