The members of FFA went to the Texas A&M Commerce LDE Contest on November 8, bringing home big wins. Among many other honors, Lindale was awarded the sweepstakes for the competition. They also won many first and second place prizes in other areas of the competition, such as FFA Broadcasting and Agricultural Issues Forum.
“For our Leadership Development Events, or LDE contests, it’s basically going and doing public speaking events, where some events will be scripted,” agribusiness teacher Jesse Burt said. “We’ll have a script for the kids; they’ll memorize the script, and then they’ll put on a presentation over an ag-related topic.”
The FFA members were very successful at the competition. Sophomores Anna Hooge and Creed Rand, as well as junior Keegan Blackburn all brought home wins at the competition. Rand placed second behind a Brangus in the American Breeds class. Hooge and Blackburn both succeeded in their parts as well.
“My favorite thing would be the group aspect, we’re all just like a big ol family,” sophomore Anna Hooge said. “We, most of the time, get along pretty well, and some of my greatest friends are in FFA.”
FFA was awarded the sweepstakes at the competition. They also got second place in Chapter Conducting and Jr Ag Issues Forum, and won several first place awards. Some of their first place prizes were in Jr and Sr Ag Skill Demo and Chapter Ag Quiz.
“I was in the Agricultural Issues and our issue was how development is taking over agricultural land,” junior Keegan Blackburn said. “We got first place for our issues team.”
At FFA competitions, students either prepare speeches over issues within agriculture, advocate for those problems, show animals, and other agriculture-related tasks. The Lindale FFA team is usually successful at these competitions, which they do many times every year.
“Success for me is just that the students get something out of it,” Burt said. “That the students grow as individuals and become more confident in themselves and become ready for their future endeavors outside of high school.”
The FFA members will participate in more contests in the spring semester. These contests will feature livestock shows, speeches, and more. Contests normally take place during the school day, and they go to many different ones every year.
“Here in the program, we’re pretty much successful with all of it,” Burt said. “I wouldn’t say there’s one area where we exceed more than the others.”
