TAKING IT TO HEART

News

November 5, 2013 - 12:00 AM

Wicoff takes FFA Creed to national level

Clara Wicoff believes in the future of agriculture. She believes in it so much that she took the National FFA’s creed to heart. That study earned Wicoff fourth place at a national convention in Louisville, Ky., Friday.
Wicoff, an Iola sophomore, joined the Iola FFA chapter as a freshman and became involved quickly. This year she is the chapter’s treasurer.
Within the organization there are multiple career development events that members can choose to compete in. Wicoff participates in speech, land judging and creed speaking. Learning the organization’s creed is mandatory.
The creed was written by E.M. Tiffany, and adopted at its third national convention. It consists of five paragraphs all which start with “I believe.”
Wicoff advanced to the 86th national convention after winning her district and state creed competitions.
There was a lot of practice and preparation before Wicoff left for Louisville.
“I kept practicing the creed with my mom and I would think of questions about the creed that judges might ask and how I’d answer them,” she said.
“Clara worked very hard to prepare for this event,” said Charles Kerr, Iola FFA adviser. “She researched over 150 questions about the creed and practiced diligently on her accuracy and presentation. As her adviser I am very proud of her and her performance.”
Wicoff competed against 48 other state winners over the course of three rounds.
“We started in preliminaries and we gave the creed to about eight judges,” Wicoff said. “They asked us three questions about the creed.”
Next came semi-finals. Once again Wicoff recited the creed from memory and was asked three questions.
Thursday night she found out at the creed banquet that she had been selected as one of four finalists. When her parents, Joel and Lisa Wicoff, heard the news that she had qualified for finals they didn’t hesitate to see her recite it live.
“They left Iola at about 8 p.m. and drove all night and got to Louisville around 7 a.m.,” she said.
For the last round on Friday the audience grew and the pressure mounted.
“They (the judges) asked really high level questions,” Wicoff said.
That night after the contest Wicoff learned that she had earned fourth place.
 Wicoff said she learned a lot from the experience.
“It gave me more public speaking skills,” she said. “It taught me how to think quickly when asked questions.”
Kerr said he is pleased with how Wicoff performed at nationals and she made the school and chapter proud.
“It was an experience that I am sure she will remember for a lifetime,” he said.
Wicoff hopes to qualify for a high level competion in prepared or extemporaneous speech in the future.

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