Thorp FFA Students Compete in District Leadership Development

Friday, February 9th, 2024 -- 12:00 PM

On Monday, January 22, nine Thorp FFA students competed in the District Leadership Development event at Greenwood High School.

Students had the options to compete in the following categories: prepared speaking, extemporaneous speaking, job interview, discussion meet, parliamentary procedure, creed speaking, and quiz bowl.

Ella Ewings and Kallie Penk competed in the Creed Speaking event. Participants in this event must memorize and recite the official FFA creed to a panel of judges. Afterwards, they are asked five minutes worth of questions on their FFA involvement. Overall, Ella placed 5th and Kallie placed 3rd.

Luke Schraufnagel and Jacob Ciolkosz competed in the Extemporaneous Speaking event. Participants in this event get 30 minutes to write a 4-6 minute speech on a randomly selected agricultural topic. Resources such as books and articles are allowed for research.

Topics can vary from the economic impact farmers hold, to the technological advances of hydropower. After giving their speeches to a panel of judges, they are asked questions based on their topic. Overall, Jacob placed 5th and Luke moved onto the sectional competition as he placed 1st.

State FFA officer Lizzy Reinart presented Luke Schraufnagel (pictured) with his 1st place plaque in the Prepared Speaking event. In this event, participants must write a 6-8 minute speech on any agricultural topic they choose.

Their speeches must be memorized at the sectional and state levels. This year, Luke's speech was titled "Feeding Academics" and contained information on how Farm-to-School lunches are improving students' learning abilities.

Middle school students Oliver Henderson, Jaden Ciolkosz, Caleb Ciolkosz, Evan Penterman, and Hailey Ciolkosz competed in the MS Quiz Bowl. Students must know FFA trivia and buzz in to answer questions. Thorp did not move onto the next level; however, they scored high and battled it out with the top team, Granton.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.