Ellis County 4-H youth wins his speech division at the State Fair

Ellis County 4-H youth, a sophomore from Ferris High School, competed at the State Fair of Texas with a Texas history speech he wrote himself.

Aiden Hunter, 15, of Bristol, participated in the Youth Agricultural Public Speaking Contest and earned the division champion title for the Senior Western Heritage division.

“When I first looked at the divisions, I knew I had to go with Western Heritage because history and politics is always what I’ve done,” Hunter said. “I wanted to tell the whole story of Texas at first, but I had eight minutes to work with.”

Hunter sat down with Ellis County 4-H and Youth Development agent Sidney Atchley to scale down the speech.

“What is the most important part people need to know?” Atchley asked.

“From the Old 300, when Austin first brought settlers to Texas, to around Mexican Cession at the end of the Mexican American War because that’s really when our foundation started,” Hunter replied.

Hunter looked at the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, the curriculum guide for Texas students, and pulled everything it had on Texas History. He approached his history teacher, who once taught seventh-grade Texas History and asked for lesson plans for the entire year, saying “I’ll pull what I need.”

After gathering all the information and using his former Texas history knowledge, Hunter wrote the first draft of his speech in three hours.

“My intention is never to try to convince the audience of anything,” Hunter said. “It’s always just to tell the story and to inform people on the history of our state.”

Atchley and Hunter ran through his speech every night for two weeks, finetuning it and slimming it down from 12 minutes to the required eight minutes.

In August, Hunter submitted a video of his speech for the first round of judging.

While sitting late at school one evening, he received an email saying he earned a spot in the next round: an in-person competition at the State Fair in front of judges, other competitors and a live audience.

Hunter’s favorite part about giving speeches is “the ability to connect with the audience.”

“When you’re in front of that live audience, you can connect with them and just being able to let more people know about the history of our nation and state is great,” he said.

Giving speeches and entertaining people are not new to Hunter.

"I’ve been entertaining since I was 3,” he said. “You give me an audience, and I’ll talk to them.”

Since second grade, Hunter has competed in oral interpretation competitions through school, placing every year. As a freshman, he began competing in UIL.

At one of these competitions in February, Hunter was talking to a woman at an antique shop, and she encouraged him to join 4-H because it would give him more opportunities to enter speech competitions.

In April, Hunter joined 4-H and began entering speech competitions. In July, he earned ninth place in the state for his speech about Bristol, Texas.

“I’m grateful that I’ve been able to do so much in the short time I’ve been a part of 4-H,” Hunter said.

Originally published November 9, 2022 - https://www.waxahachiesun.com/education/ellis-county-4-h-youth-wins-his-speech-division-at-the-state-fair/article_957c55e4-60a5-11ed-9c3c-5feaaf4a7a00.html