Creston's Rohrig back at FFA nationals

Oct. 31—Another category is sending Creston High FFA senior member Tucker Rohrig to the 96th national FFA convention that runs Wednesday through Saturday at Indianapolis, Indiana.

Rohrig qualified for nationals earlier this year in the prepared public speaking event. Contestants write and deliver a six to eight-minute speech about a current agriculture-related topic. Students research a topic of interest and then put together a creative, informative speech. The speech is then presented to a panel of judges, who score the student based on the speech's content, composition and delivery.

"I still have to share it in a way that sounds extemporaneous, but still reading it word for word," he said.

Rohrig said the contestants get to pick their topic but it has to be one that has multiple opinions

"This is the hardest one," he said comparing the previous reasons he went to nationals.

His freshman year, he qualified for the FFA Creed. The National FFA Creed Speaking Leadership Development Event recognizes FFA members for their ability to present the National FFA Creed from memory and answer three questions related to it. The FFA Creed outlines the organization's values and beliefs regarding the industry of agriculture, FFA membership, and citizenship and patriotism. Students participating in the Creed Speaking LDE learn to communicate in a powerful, organized and professional manner and build self-confidence.

Rohrig also attended nationals for job interview during his high school years. Contestants simulate real-world activities used by employers and tests students' ability to perform effectively throughout the employment process. Students submit a cover letter and resume; complete an application and a telephone interview; and participate in a preliminary face—to—face interview. Students also experience a networking activity that could include an elevator pitch, a meal function or participating at a trade show event and receive a telephone offer where they negotiate for their job opportunity.

"That was difficult," Rohrig said about job interview.

"But this was hardest," he said about prepared public speaking, "There is so much to memorize."

It's not just the memorization, but the presentation.

"I have to be able to give that speech to show it sounds like something I am passionate about. Nationals is a whole different level of competition. State is crazy. At nationals last year I met people from job interview and those people were already planning to go law school, or had extremely high ACT scores. I felt out of place," he said.

Rohrig said he appreciates the diversity of students at FFA nationals.

Other Creston FFA members will also attend nationals.

Rohrig said he is considering animal science as his major in college.

In August, the National FFA Organization announced student membership of 945,988, an increase of 11 percent from last year. In addition, the number of FFA chapters continues to grow — increasing by 168 this year, resulting in 9,163 chapters in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

"It's exciting to see our numbers grow and know we continue to influence the next generation of leaders," said National FFA CEO Scott Stump. "This generation is making a difference in their communities and agriculture. We're excited to see the enthusiasm for agricultural education and FFA reflected in our membership."

The top five membership states of the organization are Texas, California, Georgia, Illinois and North Carolina. This year, the organization has more than 150,000 Latino members, more than 50,000 Black members, more than 9,000 Asian members, more than 14,000 American Indian and Alaska Native members, and more than 2,400 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander members. More than 43% of the membership is female, and 49.8% is male, with .6% reporting as nonbinary and 6.4% undisclosed.

The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 945,000 student members as part of 9,163 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.