FFA competes in first full LDE contest ahead of Districts later in the month
by Brielle Weir,
Blue Ink staff writer
Leadership Development Events (LDE’s) are a great way to step out of one’s comfort zone. They are competitions put on by the National FFA Organization for students to speak proudly, and showcase and improve leadership skills in front of judges.
LDE’s specialize in assisting kids on personal development, teamwork, public speaking, reasoning, decision making, and more.
On Thursday, October 31, Garretson FFA attended their first LDE competition of the year; it was held in Brookings, South Dakota. There were a total of 14 students who attended this competition including a variety of new students who competed this year as well as kids who have already done a LDE in the past.
Jacoby Costello and Dylan Waltman competed in Agricultural Broadcasting, Carter Siemonsma and Alexis Christensen were in Employment Skills, Lane Ellefson participated in Extemp, Brielle Weir and Blair Ellefson spoke the Creed, Harper Hanisch, Gavin Coburn, Vanessa Chapin, Chase Costello, Colton Buchholz, Zach Hermanson, and Kaden Hoogland competed for the first time in Conduct of Chapter Meeting.
Hanisch said “We were all pretty mellow, because it was just a practice competition but we were still nervous with it being our first competition.”
Since the Jackrabbit Invite, the FFA participants have been busy practicing on the areas for improvement that came to light during the first competition. Partaking in an LDE does more than just help with personal skills; Gavin Coburn highlighted that LDEs allow people to hangout with friends, travel, and grow as a team better. Others mentioned that no matter how the placing, the practice pays off and teaches a lot.
