National 4-H Week

Taking the Lead

National 4-H Week

October 3-9, 2010

Look at your local 4-H, and you will find young people taking the lead in addressing today’s challenges. 4-H is where young people explore, learn and discover in a safe environment. In 4-H, youth find their true passions, gain confidence and give back to their community.

Celebrate 4-H as youth step up and take responsibility for their futures- and ours.

For more information, contact Robbie Potter, 4-H Agent or Kim Slotnick, 4-H Program Assistant at (828)688-4811.

McDowell Livestock Show

Our Mitchell County 4-H’ers have successfully shown their knowledge of livestock at a recent Livestock Show held in McDowell County on August 7, bringing home rosettes and ribbons. Five youth represented Mitchell County, showing heifers, sheep, and goats. All these kids placed well in their Showmanship classes. Look for more updates as these youth represent us at the Avery County Fair, in Newland and at the Mountain State Fair, in Fletcher.

Mitchell County 4-H Youth Compete

Eight Mitchell County youths attended the 4-H District Activity Day held in Cullowhee, NC on June 24, 2010. Five of these youth participated in public speaking competition by doing a demonstrated talk and public speaking on various topics. Each of the kids that participated placed in the competition. There was a gold medal winner, Jeremiah Vance, 13; three silver medal winners, Justin McMahan, 13, Chelsea Phillips, 16, and Kellyn Slotnick, 14; and a bronze medal winner, Jamie Slotnick 13. Three of the kids were the winners at the 4-H Talent Show held in April and they participated in the Entertains portion of the competition. Hayden Brewer, 14, performed a guitar solo and Tori Riddle, 10 and Courtney Thomas, 11 performed a dance act. These kids received a blue ribbon and both acts were video taped and sent to Raleigh for possible inclusion in other 4-H activities.

The gold and silver medal winners went on to compete at the 4-H Congress held in Raleigh, NC on July 20. Congress is an annual gathering of 4-Her’s from across the state. The kids participate in competitions, workshops and entertainment at NCSU. These kids worked hard and did a great job of representing the youth of our county.

2010 Summer Day Camps

We had a small but great group of kids at our Summer Day Camps. We played in the creek and talked about water quality while investigating what organisms live in our creeks. We did some orienteering, learning to use a compass and a set of instructions to find a destination. We also discovered bugs in the garden, which ones were good and which were bad. We learned to make pizza and fruit smoothies and ate what we made too.We sat in on a DUI court session and learned first hand what kind of loop holes our legal system must deal with. We spent a day horseback riding and took a hayride. Lastly we fished and fished and fished.