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Southern NM State Fair Public Speaking Contest
Novice Grand Champion Shelby Pfiefert
Scholarship sponsored by Ag New Mexico Farm Credit. Buckle sponsored by Albert Chapa, Rio Grande Hybrid Seeds Shelby Pfiefert (center) pictured with Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte, NMSU College of Aces Dr. Dean Rolando Flores, NMSU President Dr. John Floros, and Frannie Miller
Novice Reserve Champion Divia Summers
Scholarship sponsored by NMSU Ag Ed & Ag Business Department Buckle sponsored by Albert Chapa, Rio Grande Hybrid Seeds. Divia Summers (center) pictured with Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte, NMSU College of Aces Dr. Dean Rolando Flores, NMSU President Dr. John Floros, and Frannie Miller
Junior Grand Champion RJ Garay
Scholarship sponsored by Ag New Mexico Farm Credit. Buckle sponsored by Albert Chapa, Rio Grande Hybrid Seeds RJ Garay (center) pictured with Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte, NMSU College of Aces Dr. Dean Rolando Flores, NMSU President Dr. John Floros, and Frannie Miller
Junior Reserve Champion Elaina Mays
Scholarship presented in honor of Jerry P. Townsend. Buckle sponsored by Albert Chapa, Rio Grande Hybrid Seeds. Elaina Mays (center) pictured with Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte, NMSU College of Aces Dr. Dean Rolando Flores, NMSU President Dr. John Floros, and Frannie Miller
Senior Grand Champion Grady Hodnett
Scholarship sponsored by Ag New Mexico Farm Credit. Buckle sponsored by Albert Chapa, Rio Grande Hybrid Seeds. Grady Hodnett (center) pictured with Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte, NMSU College of Aces Dr. Dean Rolando Flores, NMSU President Dr. John Floros, and Frannie Miller
Senior Reserve Champion Kaydens Koenig
Scholarship in honor of Bubba & Norma Echols Buckle sponsored by Albert Chapa, Rio Grande Hybrid Seeds
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Saturday, August 25th was a great day to celebrate agriculture on the New Mexico State University (NMSU) Campus. In addition to being homecoming and Ag Day, it was also the first Southern New Mexico State Fair Agricultural Public Speaking Contest.
The majority of the participants competed in a public speaking contest for the very first time, others were fresh off of a virtual win at the New Mexico State Fair. Frannie Miller, the contest organizer and one of the scholarship donors said, “It’s hard having one more thing during fair season, but nothing is more rewarding than seeing how excited the kids are and knowing that helping kids develop this skill really prepares them to be leaders in the agricultural industry.” One of the goals of the contests is to allow more NMSU faculty to meet New Mexico youth, another is to give New Mexico kids more competitions to prepare them for success in national contests.
A big thanks to all the donors that are helping to elevate these contests with great prizes. Thanks to Albert Chapa, owner of Rio Grande Hybrid Seeds for donating all the buckles. Thanks to Ag New Mexico for sponsoring all the Grand Champion Scholarships. Reserve scholarships were also given by the Townsend family in honor of Jerry P. Townsend; by Sana Handley in honor of Bubba and Norma Echols; and by the Agricultural Economics & Agricultural Business Department.
Congratulations to Grady Hodnett, the Grand Champion and to Kadence Koenig, the Reserve Champion for the Senior Division. Grady and Kadence are both from Las Cruces and represented Mayfield and Las Cruces FFA, respectively. In the Junior Division RJ Garay, from Hatch FFA, won Grand Champion and Elainia Mays, from Hot Springs FFA in Truth or Consequence was the Reserve Champion. In the Novice Division, Shelby Pfiefer won Grand Champion and Divia Summers won Reserve Champion. Both of them are from Las Cruces. ▫
