Courtesy photo.
SANTA MARIA — Nine representatives of the Pioneer Valley FFA will move on to the Regional Speaking Finals later this month to compete and qualify for the State Finals competition after a strong and successful showing at the Sectional Public Speaking Virtual Competition.
Sophomore Jasmin Olivera was named 4th high in the speaking competition labeled Impromptu. Only four individuals get to move on and Pioneer Valley FFA will have one of them from our school district. Jasmin was able to take an unknown question, quotation, and agriculture related word and instantly give a two-minute speech on its importance and application to agriculture and her life.
Pioneer Valley FFA had 1st and 3rd in a strong showing in the area of Prepared Public Speaking. Senior Marc Cabeliza was named Sectional Champion along with the classmate Jimena Diaz will be moving to Regionals.
Seniors Cali Perez and Elizabeth Beebe will represent Pioneer Valley at Regionals for their showing in the extemporaneous public speaking contest. They were named Sectional Champion and 3rd runner up for their ability to research and prepare for twenty different agriculture related issues. Students randomly draw a topic, and then, are given twenty minutes to prepare, and deliver a four-to-six-minute speech. When their speech is completed, they answer a variety of questions demonstrating their knowledge for the topic and their potential solution.
Freshman Julissa Ruiz and Elina Estacio highlight the four students that qualify for Regional Finals in the area of Creed. Joining them will be Gracie Velazquez and Camila Uribe. Julissa Ruiz was 2nd overall while Elina Estacio was 4th overall at Sectional Finals.
This performance was highlighted by our FFA Theme for this year entitled “Unite.”
Teacher Hector Guerra stated, “This year was one of the most challenging years to get our students prepared in a virtual setting, but as always, our students worked hard, practiced, and demonstrated that they are the best in the galaxy. We coaches are extremely proud of them as we continue working with those that made it on to regionals. Congratulations to all of them.”