UNION GROVE, Texas — An East Texas FFA student is now a national runner-up in the Spanish Speaking Creed contest.
Thomas Navarro-Gonzalez, a sophomore at Union Grove High School, came in second place in the Spanish Speaking Creed competition at the 96th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana this week.
Navarro-Gonzalez represented Spanish-speaking FFA students across Texas during the national competition. He is set to return from Indiana Friday evening.
According to the Texas FFA Association, the FFA Creed in English first appeared in 1929 and was adopted as the official creed of the Future Farmers of America by the organization’s delegates to the third National Convention in 1930.
When Puerto Rico became a state association in FFA in 1932, the need for a Spanish version became apparent, the Texas FFA said.
The Creed is a five paragraph belief statement for the FFA that goes beyond geography, language, race or ethnicity. The contest includes students delivering the creed statement and a five-minute question-answer period conducted only in Spanish, the website read.
The last census data showed 29% of Texans speak Spanish in their home. Texas Data Center and the United States Census Bureau shows it can be predicted that between 2025 and 2030 more Texans will be Spanish speakers than solely English speakers.