Bridgeport FFA is proving its prowess in the FFA Public Speaking Contests again! This spring semester four Bridgeport FFA members competed in the Area five speaking events. Sarah Cline, Madi Manoushagian, and Kathryn McCauley competed in Soil Stewardship Public Speaking, Sr. Prepared Public Speaking, and Jr. Prepared Public Speaking respectively. Each of these students brought home the District and Area championships and will compete at the state convention this July in Lubbock to determine who is the best public speaker in the state. In addition to these students, Angelica Martinez will compete in the Spanish Creed Speaking contest in Lubbock as well. Cameron Crawford finished 7th in the area in Sr. Prepared Public Speaking.
Sarah Cline is a senior at Bridgeport High School and her speech was over the effect that the Cap and Trade bill will have on forestry, and soil and water conservation. Her speech received first at District and Area. This is not her first visit to the State FFA competition. She has already received a 500-dollar scholarship for her area win, and stands to win a 3,000-dollar scholarship if she wins the state contest.
This past year Kline won the Sr. Prepared state competition and advanced to nationals and was part of the Bridgeport Agriculture Issues team, which placed seventh at state. She hopes to add one more accolade to her already successful speaking career.
Madi Manoushagain is currently a sophomore at Bridgeport High School and she presented a speech over food safety legislation, Senate Bill 510. Her speech received first at District and Area as well. This will be Manoushagian’s first attempt at a state public speaking event. She was also a member of Bridgeport’s Agriculture Issues team, as well as being a member of numerous other LDE and CDE teams.
Kathryn McCauley is a freshman at Bridgeport High School. She gave a speech over In-vitro meat. McCauley was an alternate on the Ag issues team, which advanced to state and a part of the state advancing Horse Evaluation team as well. The Jr. Prepared contest is limited to seventh, eighth, and ninth grade students in Texas this is McCauley’s third year to compete. She was 3rd in Area as a 7th grader.
Martinez is a freshman at Bridgeport High School as well. She is bi-lingual and will be presenting the FFA Creed in Spanish at the second annual Spanish Creed Speaking state contest held in Lubbock.
Each student will do their presentation and then stand for a 5-minute question and answer period over their topic with a panel of industry experts. Students winning the State Jr. or Sr. Prepared contests or State Spanish Creed contest will receive 1,000-dollar scholarships upon enrollment in college. Last year, the Bridgeport FFA completed the task of winning two state speaking contests in the same year. This year they hope to make it 4, a feat that has never been accomplished in the Texas FFA’s 82 year history.
To learn more about the Bridgeport FFA, or see results as they are posted, check out their Blog at: www.bridgeporttxffa.blogspot.com or follow us on Twitter @bridgeportffa.
Submitted:
Kathryn McCauley
2011-2012 Reporter
Bridgeport FFA Chapter
