Youth & Family News

Monday, June 28, 2021, 9 a.m.

Join us for our Monday episode of Energy Express as we kickoff with a reading of “The Sloth That Slowed Us Down” with Chris Matlick, administrative director at the Mylan Charitable Foundation.

Jefferson County 4-H'ers, Lucy Field and Brynlea Shade, 10, of the Summit Point Busy Bees 4-H Club make up the dynamic duo of the Best Friends Bake Episode 9: Jackpot Drop Cookies visual presentation.

Kallie Keyser, 8, is a first year 4-H'er from Pendleton County and is a member of the Upper Tract Producers 4-H Club.

She has participated in the the presentation contest at the club level for 6 years, but this is the first year she has submitted an entry to her county and state-level contests. She enjoys the opportunity to practice her public speaking skills while participating in a club activity.

She has participated in the State 4-H Presentation Expo for 2 years because, as she notes, she loves public speaking! In 2020, she completed a visual presentation about Caterpillar Tractors that earned a blue ribbon in the state-level contest. 

Join us for an egg-citing episode of Energy Express! Mark Swiger, director of WVU Extension Service’s Energy Express program, will kick off the episode by reading us “The Good Egg.”

Next, we will “peep” over to Tasha Harris, agriculture and natural resources agent in Upshur County, and Jesica Streets, agriculture and natural resources agent in Tucker County, to learn all about eggs.

Ethan Ferris, 11, is a member of the Hardy County Mill Island 4-H club. He has participated in the State 4-H Presentation Expo for 3 years, because he really enjoys public speaking and sees the expo as a chance to better his public speaking abilities. This is important to him because he recognizes that he will need these skills all the time as he gets older; like for college interviews, job interviews, fundraising for community service projects, etc. He says, "Really, we will use it everywhere!"

West Virginia 4-H is proud to recognize 53 participants from 13 counties for their creativity and hard work in making their virtual presentations for the 2021 State 4-H Presentation Expo! 

The State 4-H Presentation Expo is an annual event that provides an opportunity for 4-H members to gain public speaking skills across three presentation types: 1) Public Speaking, 2) PowerPoint/Digital Presentation, and 3) Visual Presentations. New to the expo this year was the 4-H Creed contest. 4-H members submitted pre-recorded presentations they conducted in their county level contest to the state-level contest where they were judged by a range of Extension Faculty & Staff, 4-H volunteers, and collegiate 4-H'ers.

Our West Virginia 4-H team is working together with a group of researchers at West Virginia University on ways to improve 4-H camp experiences and the lives of youth across the state. We are currently running a study that asks about youths' 4-H camp experience, attitudes and beliefs. We want everyone to get an opportunity to share their experience, help improve future camp experiences and win some prizes!