Youth from throughout Lincoln County were provided with an opportunity to practice and enhance their public speaking skills during this year’s Communication Contest. During this pre-fair event, youth were able to share a puppetry performance, do a demonstration on one of their 4-H projects, share an original speech, read poetry, prose or a story. The contest was held on Saturday, March 1, at the Lincoln County Service Center in Merrill. Beth Krueger and the Merrill Busy Bees 4-H Club coordinated the contest; Nancy Herbison served as the judge; Pat Chieves served as the event photographer and Morgan Norton and Bailey Iwen served as the emcees for the contest.
The Communications Contest is open to all youth grades kindergarten to 13th grade (one year out of high school). A recent study conducted by the Wisconsin 4-H Youth Development program found that children that participate in 4-H arts and communication programs gain important technical, communication and teamwork skills while increasing their self-esteem and self-confidence. Youth who took part in this survey reported that their work with 4-H helped them improve their individual performance and creativity skills, build good learning habits as they integrated feedback from judges, and bolstered their opportunities to become confident public speakers. The Communication Contest is an example of a local 4-H arts and communication program in Lincoln County.
Participants included:
CLOVERBUD DIVISION – KINDERGARTEN to 2nd Grade
“The Little Turtle” and “A Chubby Little Snowman” by Vachel Lindsay, performed by Keely McGinn, member of the Barnes Creek Buccaneers 4-H Club, Participation Ribbon.
ELEMENTARY DIVISION – 3RD to 5th Grade
“I don’t know” original puppetry performance written by Emily Weix and Molly McGinn, performed by Annie Jirovec, Josiah Jirovec, Keely McGinn, Molly McGinn, Elizabeth Weix, Emily Weix, and Blake Wood, members of the Barnes Creek Buccaneers 4-H Club, Blue Ribbon and Best of Show.
JUNIOR DIVISION – 6th – 8th Grade
“Caddie Woodlawn” by Carrol Brink, Reading of Prose by Molly McGinn, member of the Barnes Creek Buccaneers 4-H Club, Blue Ribbon and Best of Show; “Drama” by Raina Telgemeier, Reading of Prose by Emily Weix, member of the Barnes Creek Buccaneers 4-H Club, Red Ribbon; “Crayon Lipstick,” Demonstration by Molly McGinn, member of the Barnes Creek Buccaneers 4-H Club, Red Ribbon.
SENIOR DIVISION – 9th Grade and older
“Jonah and the Whale” by Brian Conway, Reading of Prose by Brenda Krueger, member of the Merrill Busy Bees 4-H Club, Blue and State Fair 1st Alternate; “Sixteen and Dying” by Jennifer Schultz, Reading of Prose by Laura Weiland, member of the Merrill Busy Bees 4-H Club, Blue, Best of Show, and State Fair Delegate; “The Road” by Cormic McCarthy, Reading of Prose by Elizabeth Weix, member of the Barnes Creek Buccaneers 4-H Club, Red Ribbon; Various Poems by Helen Steiner Rice, Reading of Poetry by Lisa Krueger, member of the Merrill Busy Bees 4-H Club, Red Ribbon, State Fair 2nd Alternate.
If you are interested in learning more about 4-H or how to getting involved in Lincoln County 4-H, please feel free to contact Debbie or Amanda at the UW-Extension office at (715) 539-1072 or visit our website at http://lincoln.uwex.edu/ or subscribe to the Lincoln County 4-H Blog http://fyi.uwex.edu/lincolncounty4h/ for up to the minute 4-H news. Wisconsin 4-H Youth Development is a program of the University of Wisconsin-Extension, Cooperative Extension in partnership with local, state and federal government in each Wisconsin county.