Competition supports confidence, public speaking

The Forbes Show was in full swing last weekend, and junior judging remains a strong part of the show's competition with 80 entrants across five schools entered. Students from Forbes High, Red Bend Catholic College, Canowindra High and Peak Hill High School took part in the young judges competition which had them evaluating various categories including fleece, fruit, grains and sheep. As part of the competition, the students had to give an oral presentation to the judges explaining their evaluations of the produce. Forbes Show volunteer Anne Earney said these competitions give the students the opportunity to assess real produce that they don't get to see in school and share their own opinions in a competitive environment. "They get to judge, and they may not agree with the [competition] judge, but then they have to justify their choices,” she said. Judge of the young judge's grain section Bridget Lee said the competition requires them to assess different exhibits and they are looking for uniformity, tensile strength in the wool, defective or insect damage in the grain and blemishes in the fruit competition. "We are encouraging them to be a part of the competitions and we are encouraging them to progress through," she said. Ms Lee said she started as a young judge, before becoming an associate judge after winning a state title in 2015 which led her to judging local competitions and the state grain finals. "It's a bit of a progression to get young people into the competitions to become judges in the future." Along with encouraging them to become judges in the future, Ms Lee said this competition helps students with their confidence, public speaking, talking to people and noticing things. "We want them to observe things. This is very important if you're a stock and station agent, or you're assessing sheep or cattle, "You're looking at exhibits all the time and that becomes a part of your everyday life. "If they can do that in this setting, they can apply that to the rest of their career and their general knowledge," she said.