Three Catawba County youth recently participated in the state 4-H presentation contests held on the campus of NC State University. Uriah Sigmon was the State Gold presentation winner with his presentation on Gun Safety. He participated in the 8-10 year old Safety category. Sigmon is 10 years old and a member of several different 4-H clubs. He joined the Top Shots Shooting Sports Club this year, which inspired him to select gun safety as the topic for his presentation.
Selah Sigmon earned the state Silver Award in Egg Cookery, 14-18 year olds. Sigmon is 15 years old and is a county 4-H officer. She is a member of several 4-H clubs including, It’s Electric and Discoveries in Gardening. This is the 4th year she has participated in 4-H presentations.
Zaira Mendoza gave a presentation in the 14-18 Careers and Entrepreneurship category. She was selected to participate in the state presentation after being selected as a District Gold Winner. This was Mendoza’s first year giving a presentation. She said she chose to participate in the presentation contest because, “I wanted to try something new that pushed me out of my comfort zone”. She was part of the 4-H Juntos Club at Arndt Middle School. According to Donna Mull, 4-H Agent, the Juntos Coordinator blended presentations into the spring club plans by having all members research a career and education needed for that career. The Arndt club members gave mini-presentations for their family and teachers. Mendoza took her presentation to the next step by continuing to work on it and participate in the county 4-H presentation contest, which ultimately led to her giving the presentation in the state contest.
4-H Presentations are a longtime traditional offering in NC 4-H. Presentations are a 5-12 minute planned talk with visuals. There are almost 30 different presentation categories, such as Outdoor Cookery, Livestock Production, Science and Technology and more. Presentations begin in late spring with youth presenting on the county level and then moving onto a district or regional contest. Almost 300 youth ages 8-18 participated in the state presentation contests, after being selected as district winners in their respective regions. The district and state presentation winners received cash awards.
After participating in the state presentation contest, Sigmon and Mendoza remained in Raleigh, where they represented Catawba County at NC 4-H Congress, an annual teen leadership conference. The state presentation contest kicks-off NC 4-H Congress.
After youth join 4-H, they are eligible to participate in a variety of different 4-H activities and contests, such as presentations. For information about joining or starting a 4-H club, contact Donna Mull, Catawba County 4-H Agent, at Cooperative Extension at 828-465-8240 or donna_mull@ncsu.edu. 4-H is a volunteer-led youth development program for ages 5-18.
