Students interested in gaining communication skills, learning more about the U.S. government and potentially earning scholarship money are encouraged to apply for Texas Farm Bureau’s (TFB) Free Enterprise Speech Contest.
Participating students share their perspectives on the benefits of the free enterprise system and discuss the U.S. Constitution.
“The founding principles of private property and free enterprise are valued by Farm Bureau, and we want to inspire young people with those same principles,” Whit Weems, director of TFB’s Organization Division, said. “This contest helps students learn more about our country, our economy and how to communicate effectively with an audience.”
To qualify for the contest, students must be part of a TFB member-family and completed the Thrive experience as part of the Student Success Series.
“This contest builds on what they learned in the Thrive experience this summer,” Weems said. “It helps students recognize the importance of our constitutional government and free enterprise system, but it also teaches them to connect with an audience during their speech.”
Contestants are judged on organization, language, voice, use of notes, eye contact, overall persuasiveness and relevance of speech topic.
Contest details
District contests will take place virtually during October. Contestants must pre-record a speech, and a link to the video must be submitted to youthactivities@txfb.org by Oct. 18. Speeches may not be longer than eight minutes.
One winner and one runner-up will be chosen by each district, and the district winners will be awarded a $1,500 scholarship. Winners will be announced in November.
The district winners will compete in the state contest, which will be held in early 2022.
Four finalists at the state level will receive additional funding to amount to $2,000 each, including the district scholarship.
The state runner-up scholarship will increase to $3,000, and the state winner’s will increase to $6,000.
Application process
Eligible participants that completed all six modules of the Thrive experience received an email in late August with contest details and the application.
Completed applications must be signed by the county Farm Bureau president and be received by the state office by Oct. 1.
More information about the video requirements and filming tips are available online at texasfarmbureau.org/youth/youth-opportunities.
Contest speeches from previous years can be found online at vimeo.com/texasfarmbureau/fes2018.
Email youthactivites@txfb.org or call 254-751-2258 for more information.