ECHO — Kellan Smith of Echo High School made history by becoming the first student from the school to win the Future Farmers of America state public speaking title.

Smith, 14, a freshman at Echo High, achieved a personal milestone while also cementing his place in the school’s FFA legacy with taking its first public speaking title.

He won the banner at the Oregon State FFA Convention, March 20-23, at the Deschutes Fair & Expo Center in Redmond.

For his competition, Smith delivered a public speech about the U.S. Department of Agriculture allowing the reentry of beef imports from Paraguay, a country with a history of struggles with foot-and-mouth disease. The condition causes blisters to form on the mouths and hooves of infected cattle and can be transmitted in various ways, including via close contact.

According to a report from Agriculture Drive in March 2024, Paraguay beef exports were barred in 1997 amid disease outbreaks in the South American country. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has said the safety risk associated with reopening beef trade is low, noting foot-and-mouth disease hasn’t been detected in Paraguay since 2012.

Smith said it’s a topic people should be aware of when it comes to what’s entering the nation.

“If it were to get into the U.S. it would cause major problems in our shipping lines, beef and stores,” Smith said. “It’s what beef producers are worried about, and there’s a national concern about it.”

Smith put in plenty of practice to bring home the banner.

“ I practiced almost every night before the competition,  when I got home for an hour,” he said. “I did it in front of teachers. I did it in front of three different  grade classes — third, fourth and fifth.”

He also presented his speech to the school board and the FFA alumni, and even practiced over FaceTime with his family.

Helen Griffith, agriculture teacher and FFA coach at Echo High School, said initially, Smith’s speech was about 10 minutes long. However, for the contest, it had to be shortened to fit within the three-to-five-minute time limit.

“A lot of it was just working with him and discussing what he needed to cut out from his speech,” Griffith said. “We also worked on questions, which was a big part of it. Competitors had to answer five minutes of questions related to their topic after their speech.”

Griffith added she was fortunate that Smith’s parents were highly involved and he had a lot of support at home.

Smith’s father, Raymon Smith, superintendent at Echo High School, and his mother, Leah Smith, agriculture sciences faculty instructor at Blue Mountain Community College, are former members of FFA and provided valuable support to their son during the competition.

Smith said the biggest piece of advice his parents gave him was to work on his voice inflection, making it louder and more dynamic.

“They told me not to talk like a robot,” he said. “I was very flat with my voice, like a straight line. So about three weeks before the competition, I finally started using more voice inflection, making my speech sound more fun and being more happy about it.”

Smith first delivered the speech in the competition room to an audience of more than 150 people, and the next day, he had to recite the first paragraph in front of a crowd of 2,000. He described the moment he won as “exciting” and said he mostly kept his composure on stage, but once he got off, the celebration began.

In the hallways of Echo High, Smith held his blue banner in front of the wall of winners. The 2025 FFA State Beginning Public Speaking banner soon will be pinned onto the wall, enriching the school’s legacy.

Smith also has advice for any students interested in public speaking.

“It’s a good strength to have later on in life for job interviews and college,” Smith said. “Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and talk in front of a lot of people.”