YF&R announce speech contest winners

Date of release: 3/18/2008

Several Oklahoma youth recently competed for $9,500 in savings bonds and scholarships during the 13th Annual Young Farmers and Ranchers Speech Contest, sponsored by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau. The contest was held March 17 at the OSU-OKC campus in Oklahoma City.

The YF&R Speech Contest was broken up into three age divisions: Junior, nine-12 years old; Intermediate, 13-15 years old; and Senior, 16-18 years old. The youth gave speeches in three division categories, including Agricultural Production, Agriculture Policy and Environment & Natural Resources. Speeches for the Junior Division were three to five minutes in length; five to eight minutes for the Intermediate and Senior divisions.

Participants of both contests were judged on speech presentation, content, response to questions and general poise and appearance.

Farm Bureau presented plaques to the winners of each category in each age group.

Junior Division:
First, second and third place winners of each category of the Junior Division received $400, $200 and $100 savings bonds, respectively.

Winners in the Agriculture Production category were: First place, Tyler Schnaithman of Garber; second place, Sarah Garvie of Burlington; and third place, Gatlin Squires of Noble.

Winners in the Agriculture Policy category were: First place, Bolton Ferda of Medford; second place, Katelyn Garvie of Burlington; and third place, Paige Garza of Yukon.

Winners in the Environment & Natural Resources category were: First place, Colton Budy of Alva and second place, Jane Robertson of Edmond.

Intermediate Division:
First, second and third place winners of the Intermediate Division received $500, $200 and $100 savings bonds, respectively.

Winners in the Agriculture Production category were: First place, Chacey Schoeppel of Fairview; second place, Micaela Danker of Wellston; and third place, Kelsie Williams of Gould.

Winners in the Agriculture Policy category were: First place, Samantha Smith of Amorita; second place, Katie Lippoldt of Kingfisher; and third place, Carissa Neufeld of Fairview.

Winners in the Environment & Natural Resources category were: First place, Tara Newton of Kingfisher; second place, Tanner Allread of Union City; and third place, Tyler Price of Laverne.

Senior Division:
First, second and third place winners of the Senior Division received $1,000, $500 and $200 scholarships, respectively.

Winners in the Agriculture Production category were: First place, Amy Peel of Wetumka; second place, Brenna Cary of Hollis; and third place, Madison Martin of Hardesty.

Winners in the Agriculture Policy category were: First place Clairissa Craige of Bokchito; second place, Katie Smith of Lawton; and third place, Ben Hudgens of Byron.

Winners in the Environment & Natural Resources category were: First place, Sarah Reasnor of Fletcher; second place, Bonnie Murphy of May; and third place, Blake Jackson of Hartshorne.