County Activity Day-A Whole Lot of Talking

They came from far and near to participate in Robeson County 4-H County Activity Day this year. For those of you who don't know what a 4-H County Activity Day is, it is actually very simple. Two competitions are going on simultaneously; Public Speaking and Presentations. The difference between the two is that in Public Speaking a youth researches, writes, and delivers a five to seven minute speech on any topic they see fit (of course we prefer that it be 4-H appropriate). In Presentations the child uses posters (or a power point presentation) and props to demonstrate how to do something (anything from cooking to science), the youth picks the topic and creates their visual presentation.
This year the competition was fierce in both rooms, but when the dust settled and the judges had given their input a great group of youth will have the opportunity to move on to District Activity Day in Montgomery County, June 25.
In both competitions we started with the Cloverbuds, our 5-8 year olds. This is a non-competitive category with all the youth receiving a green ribbon. In presentations Adelmo Wortyko showed us "How to Transplant Plants" while his sister Regina showed us "How to Scrambled Eggs". Which according to our judges were very tasty. Christian Tice showed us "How to make Fruit Juice" that he makes every morning with his grandmother (it was so good that one of our judges has informed me that she is getting ready to purchase a juicer now), while Elijah Leach delivered a detailed speech on what he does everyday.
In our Junior 9-10 age division Makayla McRae spoke about Mother's Day to receive first place and Michiko Hill was a close second wither her speech on what the 4-H's mean.
In the 11-13 Junior age division Elizabeth Keenum spoke on "The Importance of a High School Education" to take first place while Camry Ocean was a close second with her speech on "The Dangers of Alcohol". Keorie McMillan and Dillon McCartney rounded out the category with speeches on "The Dangers of Smoking" and "4-H Camp". In presentations Megan Hurst took first place in Expressive Arts with her presentation on "Ballet", and Dillon McCartney took first in Environmental Sciences with his presentation on "How to Make a Grow Card".
The Senior division in Public Speaking was rough for the judges as they had to break a tie for first and second place. When it came down to it, Cierra Buckman took first with her speech on Citizenship while Aljaquan Nixon took second with his speech on fitness. In presentations, the team of Cierra and Bridget Buckman took first place in the dairy category with "How to Make a Cheesecake", while Mikayla Hecker took first place in Poultry Sciences for her science experiment involving roosters.
From the competition the following youth will have the opportunity to go forward to compete at District Activity Day; Michiko Hill, Makayla McRae, Elizabeth Keenum, Camry Ocean, Aljaquan Nixon, Megan Hurst, Dillon McCartney, Mikalya Hecker, and the team of Cierra and Bridget Buckman. Also earning the opportunity to go to District are Maurice Rogers and Rachel Jhala for winning in the performing arts competition known as 4-H Talent Showcase. At District Activity Day the youth will compete against other youth from 15 counties. The top winners in each age division will have the opportunity to go on to compete at Congress as part of the state presentations.
We must give a very special thanks to several people who helped make this day possible. First of all to United Way, which supports our program with funding which allows us to conduct activities like this. A huge thank you goes to our judges; Al Khan, Kelvin Barnes and Connie Locklear who judged the public speaking contest as well as, Margaret Crites, Joyce Russ, and Rod Jenkins who judged presentations. Our judges took several hours out of their day to take part in this event and offered wonderful comments to help our youth improve their performance at the District level. All the judges seemed to have a wonderful time and several asked to come back next year.
It is thanks to our volunteers, judges, club leaders, etc. that we had such a successful day. Without their help and participation we could not put such a tremendous event together and a mere thank you does not seem like enough. We hope that our youth's performance at District will show them how much their hard work was appreciated and we will make them proud as we go forward.