Senior FFA member Madison Mertens qualified for state with her seven minute speech on why agriculture education should be mandated in schools.
“I placed second at the district level and moved on to the sectional level. At the sectional level I placed first. I am now moving onto the state level in June,” Mertens said.
The state competition is held during the FFA state convention, June 12-15 in Madison. Mertens will compete at state on June 13.
“If she wins her group then she will give her prepared speech again later that day. If she wins that group she will advance to nationals,” FFA advisor Melissa Remer said.
Mertens will continue to prepare to give her speech as state approaches.
“I will revise my speech and continue to memorize it to be prepared to compete in June,” Mertens said.
Because this is mostly a student event, Mertens had to do everything on her own with little help.
“Honestly there isn’t much that I can help with. This is a student event. Madison had to pick a topic, then write a 6-8 minute paper, then memorize and recite it to a panel of judges. I helped Madison revise and practice,” Remer said.
With this being Mertens first time competing in any event, she is happy she took the opportunity.
“Overall, I am really happy I tried something new and am grateful for all of the opportunities that come through FFA,” Mertens said.