Ellsworth High School junior Josie Kueser will give her state-award winning speech at the 2025 Ellsworth County Conservation District awards ceremony.

Kueser entered the speech competition last year. After winning locally, and in the Area Three region competition, she went on to win at state Nov. 25.

“In one of my classes, ag business management, we were given the option of either writing a speech and giving it in class or giving it at the conservation district for the local contest,” she said. “And we were guaranteed a B just for attending the local contest, so I figured I’d take my shot.”

The shot hit the target, as she won the local event, but it also gave her more targets to shoot for.

“I think four of us did the local contest. I wrote my speech, I memorized it. I submitted a manuscript of what my speech was about and my references and then I participated in the local event and won,” Kueser said. “That moved me directly into the area contest, so I had to give it once more against the rest of Area Three and their winning contestants in their counties, and then after winning the Area Three contest, I was awarded a spot at the state competition.”

Kueser went on to win the state competition. “It was very cool. After being awarded the winning speech, I got to give it at the Kansas Association of Conservation Districts at their luncheon banquet, so that was a really cool experience,” she said.

Despite Kueser’s young age, she is no stranger to public speaking.

“I’ve been in 4-H since I can remember, with Club Days and giving project talks about my cats and my horses,” she said. “Last year I got really involved in public speaking. I’m really involved in FFA, so I kind of latched ahold to extemporaneous speaking at one of our district contests and qualified and went on to be a semi-finalist in that. So public speaking is something I’m very used to.”

Kueser will present her speech to both the Ellsworth County and Lincoln County annual meetings for the conservation districts.

The topic given by the state in her year was “One Water.”

“One water can go any direction — that’s such a hot topic, especially in agriculture these days,” she said. “I talked about responsible water usage in various large-scale crop production farms and in our own homes as well.”

Kueser’s speech includes tips on small things people can do to conserve water.

“The main thing is to try to be conservative with the water you use — the simple things — take shorter showers if you can, don’t leave the sink running while brushing your teeth, try to be as efficient as you can,” she said. “Oftentimes agriculture gets a bad rap for wasting water, but we are one of the leading industries in our efficiency, so taking this seriously and thinking about the small things you do day-to-day can have a huge impact.”

What is next for Kueser? “I am a junior this year and super involved in FFA and 4-H,” she said “I’ve grown up on a small cow/calf operation and I am deeply-rooted in agriculture, so this water topic was super important to me and my entire family, and just living in such a rural area, my entire life has kind of led me to realize that this is a much bigger problem than just one or two states.

“I’m not really set on what I’m going to do or where I’m going to go to do it, but I am really super excited to see what the future holds.”