Richland County 4-H Holds Annual Communications Day

The annual 4-H Communications Day was held on April 18, at Pella Lutheran Church. Speech and Demonstration Day is a local 4-H event, where 4-H members get to practice public speaking skills that build self-confidence and self-esteem in these young people. This year 26 4-H youth competed in this event and were evaluated by 11 community judges.

This year three Cloverbuds, 4-H members aged 6-8, presented a piece of their choice. Oliver Becker presented a poem entitled "Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall"; Claira Coryell presented the 4-H pledge and Josie Castro gave a demonstration entitled "Mini Cheeseburgers".

A demonstration gives the 4-H member the ability to teach others how to do something that they have learned, they present the step-by-step process to the audience and judges. This year, 11 junior 4-H members aged 9-13 gave demonstrations. The junior members that gave demonstrations were Kinlee Peters, Avynn Carda, Sam Snodgrass, Beau Becker, Kamden Johnson, Collin Coryell, Leddy Larson, Cameron Coryell, Briar Hanson, Kenzley VanEvery and Brooke Skov. Peters, Carda, Becker, Johnson, Coryell, Larson, Coryell, Hanson, VanEvery and Skov received blues, Snodgress received a red and Beau Becker earned honors as the top junior demonstrator.

The Crown Division is comprised of junior members who have, in years previous, already won their respective division. This year, two youth competed in the Crown Demonstration division and taking top honors was Felixe Becker. Matthias Castro received a blue.

This year, three youth members presented a prepared speech. Tegan Turnbull and Elicia Snodgrass received blues and earning honors as the top junior prepared speech was Ayla Riordan. In addition to the prepared speech, we had two members who chose to participate in the impromptu category, both members, Felixe Becker and Hazen Foss, did exceptionally well and tied, both earning honors as the top junior impromptu speech.

In the senior category, Addison Foss, Garrett Larson, Landry Larson, Eva Srygley and Cayla Hanson all gave demonstrations. Foss, Larson, Larson and Hanson all received blues and Srygley received a red. We also had one senior member participate in career communications. In this category, youth get to go through a mock interview for a career of their choice, including an application, cover letter, resume and interview. Burton Pollari received a blue.

All top juniors will be honored at this year's Achievement Day that will be held in the Fall. All seniors that received blue ribbons and meet all other requirements are eligible to attend Montana 4-H Congress in the summer to compete for the state title. Richland County 4-H would like to thank all the judges, volunteers and Pella Lutheran Church staff for making this a successful event.