El Capitan FFA Members Compete in Public Speaking Competition

By Branyon Bliss, El Capitan FFA Chapter Reporter

On October 12th, El Capitan along with 15 other FFA chapters from the Merced/Mariposa Section, competed at the annual Opening and Closing Ceremonies contest held at Gustine High School. The contest is split with one part being just specifically chapter officer as well as a freshman contest where freshmen compete against other freshmen from different chapters. 

The contest consists of each chapter making a team with 6 team members on each team. Each team member is assigned a role. The roles are the President, Vice President, Secretary, Reporter, Treasurer, and Sentinel. Each member is assigned one of these 6 roles and is to memorize a certain amount of lines. Within each team, the members are to memorize seat timing, walking strategies and more. After students memorize these things, students practice to perfection, making sure that they are not skipping or adding words to the lines that they will be graded on at the contest.

In addition, each school had multiple teachers coaching teams which is what made it so that so many amazing students were able to participate. At the end of the practicing period, and on October 12th students were brought to Gustine high school where the opening and closing contest was held. Freshman Students were separated into 15 different rooms with 4 teams each room. For the chapter officers, they were placed in one room with 15 other chapter officer teams as well. In conclusion, all freshman team members received a Gold award. The chapter officers placed silver as a team. Freshmen students, Madysen Dietz, Evelyn Cook, Josiah Velasquez, Reynaldo Gomes, and Guerin Bliss received outstanding officer awards. Overall the opening and closing contest was a great success this year, and we look forward to the opportunity to participate next year.