Kirby Kennedy Lampasas High School junior Kirby Kennedy took home first place and a $4,000 scholarship as winner of Saturday’s Free Enterprise Speech Contest at the 76th annual Texas Farm Bureau State Convention.

Kirby, 17, the daughter of Terry and Angela Kennedy, and Judy and Mike Hail, all of Lampasas, topped 11 other speakers from across Texas in the annual contest.

Although still undecided about her college of choice, Kirby hopes to major in communications at Texas Tech, the University of Texas or Texas Christian University before eventually going to law school.

Kirby is active in UIL speech competitions, FFA, the National Honor Society and the girls’ volleyball team.

The competition is the culmination of work contestants began as participants in the Texas Farm Bureau Youth Leadership Conference held each summer at Angelo State University in San Angelo.

To compete at the state level for scholarships, contestants must first attend the conference, then compete at both the county and district levels.