GFB News Magazine

Central-Carrollton, UGA teams win Advocacy in Action Contests

by Jay Stone
News Reporter

Posted on December 4, 2024 4:15 AM

Central High School of Carrollton and a team from the University of Georgia won the 4th Annual Advocacy in Action Contest, sponsored by Georgia Farm Bureau and Sunbelt Ag Expo.

The finals of the contest were held on Oct. 16 at Sunbelt Expo. Three high school teams and three college teams rotated among three judges, making pitches to the judges, who posed as legislators, requesting an increase in funds for Extension programs.

Central’s team that won the high school division featured students Frankie Kelly, Kali Merrill and Addison Smith. The Central team was coached by Leanna Brown, vice president for business climate and public policy with the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

“I think what this program does is it shows these kids the difference between a speech in a competition setting and a real opportunity to interact with someone and try to persuade them or make them aware of something that they weren’t aware of before,” Brown said. “It's real-world practice in a setting where it’s OK to fail. We want them to win, of course, but it’s OK for them to learn, to figure out what they’re doing right, what they’re doing wrong and to improve their pitch.”

The other two high school finalist teams were Crisp County and Morgan County.

The UGA team that won the collegiate division featured students Michael Howard, Madi Perdue and Eliza Jane Glover. They were coached by UGA Associate Vice President for Government Relations and Director of State Relations Blake Raulerson.

UGA emerged ahead of teams from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and Auburn University.

“There’s really nothing that I have seen that simulates a real, true, live lobbying situation like this,” said judge Preston Roberts, director of agricultural legislation with the Alabama Farmers Federation. “You’re meeting somebody that sometimes you’ve never had a conversation with and you’re having to present an issue, and you’re presenting yourself as an expert. And that is exactly what this competition is intended to do, and it’s been fun to see these kids try to learn more and prepare to be an advocate for agriculture.”

Students of the top three teams in each division received monetary prizes provided by GFB. Additionally, the first-place team in each division will be invited to attend Georgia Farm Bureau Day at the Capitol on February 11, 2025, in Atlanta.

The initial round of competition was through review of submitted three-minute videos using an issues-based prompt. The finalist teams were notified Sept. 30 and given the issue-based prompt for the interviews at Sunbelt.

A total of 18 high schools from Georgia and Florida entered, including schools from 15 Georgia counties. Five colleges entered.

For more information about the Advocacy in Action program, visit www.gfb.org/advocate/competition.

Georgia Farm Bureau President Tom McCall, center, congratulates, from left, UGA’s Michael Howard, Madi Perdue and Eliza Jane Glover for winning the collegiate division of the Advocacy in Action Contest and Central-Carrollton’s Addison Smith, Frankie Kelly and Kali Merrill for winning the high school division. / Photo by Jay Stone