SOUTH COUNTY — Future Farmers of America members from King City to Watsonville gathered at Soledad High School for the annual interview contest on Jan. 31.
FFA members from Watsonville, Everett Alvarez, Salinas, North Salinas, Gonzales, Soledad, Greenfield and King City participated in various interview segments including a “job interview,” Parliamentary Procedure competition or Robert’s Rules of Parliamentary Procedure and more.
“Parliamentary Procedure are ways that we pass motions and laws,” said Soledad FFA Chapter Sentinel Aaron Arriaga. “Motions are things we want to get done in the Chapter. Let’s say we want to have a fundraiser, we say ‘I move…’”.
According to Arriaga, the motion would have to be seconded and it moves to debate. In the debate portion of the meeting members can strike out parts of the motion and insert amendments. Then the motion moves onto voting, where if a member feels the voting was done incorrectly, a “division” can be called. In the case of a division, the chairman of the meeting asks for a stand-in vote and the motion or law concludes with adjourning the meeting.
“When we get into the room our cards are on our seats,” Arriaga said. “Each member gets something different, an amendment, a division that they have to get done during the meeting.”
The Interview Contest on Jan. 31 was Arriaga’s third time participating in a public speaking competition.
The Public Speaking Interview Contest was put together by the Monterey Bay Section FFA officers and held a special event this year, the Color Run.
“We set up an activity for all the chapters in our section to get together and get to know one another,” said North Salinas FFA Chapter Member Yisele Jurado. “It’s a good experience.”
From the Greenfield High School FFA Chapter, Ivan Trujillo, Chapter Reporter and Sectional Historian for 2017-2018, attended the interview contest and parly-pro competition to support the other members, making sure they are relaxed and having fun during the competition.
The results for the competition will be part of the big section conference in King City in March.
