My observations for my discourse
community were in two different locations. I got the privilege of observing
three totally different individuals but they all have one thing in common, the
FFA creed. The FFA creed is a contest held in March for eighth graders and
freshman in high school. To participate, members must remember the FFA creed
and recite it from memory in a 5 minute time span. They need have to answers
the questions judges wish to ask. They end the contest by saying thank you. My first observation occurred at
North Decatur High School on Tuesday March 10th in room 42 which is
the math room. When you walk into the door there is a podium in the middle of
the room. There were three rows of 6 desks on each side of the room. The room
was divided by a table with four chairs. This table was in front of the podium
5 feet back. I sat at the table in the middle facing the podium. There were
three other judge in the room with me, one to my left and two to my left. The
walls were white with funny motivational posters. Each of the contestants would
walk into the room very nervous and they would recite the creed from memory. I decided to interview Nick Plagore
who is an 8th grader at North Decatur High School. When he walked
into the room he held his head high and a smile on his face. He walked into the
room and said, “Where should I go?” We said he should stand behind the podium.
He walked behind the podium and started reciting the creed from memory. He was
very nervous, his voice was shaky at first then he calmed down after the
completion on the first paragraph. He recited the whole creed with no mistakes.
He finished with a time of 2 minutes and 30 seconds, which was the fastest time
for the whole night. The judges then asked 3 questions and he answered them to
best ability he could. The question I asked every contest was, “As an FFA
member, why is the creed important to you?” Three judges asked the same
questions each time. He said thank you and exited the room with his head held
high. My next two observations occurred
at Greensburg Community High School on Wednesday March 11th. I did
my observations in the agriculture classroom. Greensburg is my home high school
so it was very interesting to be back where I went to high school and was an
FFA member. Nothing is better than being back to a place and chapter that
forever changed my life. When you walk into the classroom
there is a podium in the front of the room, with two tables to the left of it.
There are 4 rows of 4 tables and 8 chairs behind the podium. The teacher’s desk
is in the right side corner of the room. There are filing cabinets in the back
of the room which hold FFA papers, and lots of things. It is the first period of the day
when I did my observations with Mr. McGown. Mr. McGown taught at Triton Central for 36
years then retired for 1 year and came to Greensburg in 2014. He is in his
second year of teaching at Greensburg. It was his prep period which meant he
didn’t have a class and was preparing materials for all the classes he had for
the day. You might expect that there would be no students in his room this
early in the morning but there were 10 FFA members in there. These FFA members
are doing homework and preparing for the FFA meeting that was taking place that
night. There were students yelling in the hallway, typical high school day. Mr. McGown was an FFA advisor and
high school teacher. He recited the creed for me and answered the questions I
had that followed. When he was reciting the creed he was not nervous and
reciting it with a meaning of enjoyment and a sense of pride in his voice. You
could tell that the FFA creed meant something to him and he abided by the
unspoken rules and words of E.M. Tiffany. He also had hand motions to give it a more
impact. Although I didn’t time his performance I would say it lasted around 4
minutes. He paused when necessary and that gave it more meaning.I interviewed Josh Calhoun next in
the exact same setting and room. Josh went to Hauser High School and is now a
freshman at Purdue University. When he participated in this contest his
freshman year he placed 2nd in his district contest, but he did not
let that hold him back from the creed being such a special meaning in his life.
When he recited the creed it was a lot like Mr. McGown’s. He recited it with
joy and a sense of meaning. When I was interviewing him he was very excited to
share his passion for FFA with me. He was smiling at all times and never
stopped. FFA is a passion of his and participating in Freshman Creed Speaking
was an event that forever changed his life. While doing my observations I had a
lot of fun and enjoyment getting to see how others recited it and what it meant
to them. Doing these observations put a lot of joy in my life because the FFA
creed is something that means so much to me.