Mike Smith
Artesia Daily Press
msmith@currentargus.com

Jesus Trujillo, a former school teacher and Future Farmers of America advisor, had no idea his daughter Bailey was memorizing speeches delivered by his students when she was only 3 years old.

Today, more than a dozen years later, Trujillo is celebrating Bailey’s national award for mastering just such a speech.

Now a 16-year-old sophomore at Artesia High School, Bailey captured first place in the FFA Creed Leadership Development Event speech competition during last month’s national FFA convention in Indianapolis.

The competition required her to speak in front of a panel of judges and a live audience, reciting the FFA Creed from memory and answering questions about it. The FFA Creed is a 258-word summary of the organization’s basic values and beliefs about FFA membership, agriculture, citizenship and patriotism.

Jesus Trujillo attended Artesia High in the 1990s and served as FFA state president in 1994. He taught agriculture and worked with the FFA chapter in Hagerman, a small rural community 16 miles north of Artesia, for 15 years before moving back to Artesia with wife Tabatha and children Bailey and Devon. Jesus works at his family’s business, RT Trucking.

He said the creed competition is considered the top event for FFA members in grades seven through nine.

“Every kid has to learn, recite or compete,” he said.

The FFA says the competition is designed to help participants “learn to communicate in a powerful, organized and professional manner and build self-confidence.”

Bailey still recalls her early start learning the creed and, as things turned out, preparing for the national competition.

“I’ve known the creed since I was three … my dad was an ag teacher and I would listen to his students say it. It’s always been a part of me; it’s just been stuck in my head,” she said.

Hayley Ellet, Artesia High’s FFA sponsor, said learning the nearly century-old creed is a rite of passage for FFA members.

“Every kid that enters into an agricultural education classroom learns the FFA creed,” Ellet said.

But memorizing the creed is just the beginning.

Ellett said Bailey started competing as an eighth grader and qualified for the national competition as a ninth-grader during the 2023-24 school year.

She then had to work her way through a challenging elimination process to qualify as one of four finalists in the national event.

Ellet said the contest started with 49 entrants competing in preliminary rounds that featured seven contestants speaking in four different locations around the convention hotel, the Downtown Indianapolis Marriott.

The field of 49 was cut to 16 and then to four speakers for the final round.

“There are audiences throughout the competition,” Ellet said. “The final round is held in a large convention ballroom.”

The finals were conducted in front of an audience of 200-300 in the ballroom and also livestreamed, she said.

Bailey said the competition was a valuable learning experience.

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned … and I’ve shared this with many people … you can do anything you set your mind to do,” she said. “Being able to even walk across the national stage was a huge accomplishment for me. I was going to be grateful no matter what, but to be first was amazing.”

Her dad said Bailey’s accomplishment reaffirmed his long-held belief in the value of Future Farmers of America.

As a teacher and FFA adviser, Jesus Trujillo said, his goal was to see FFA members make the top eight or even top 16 in any competition.

“To have my daughter do it was even better,” he said. “It’s neat as a parent and teacher to see what FFA can do for these kids.”

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-308-8734 or via email at msmith@currentargus.com.