Posted: October 10, 2022
Several Pennsylvania 4-H members — John Bruner, of Indiana County, Maisy Funk, of Berks County, Anna Payne, of Bradford County, Levi Ferster, of Northumberland County, and Melissa Griswold, of Chester County — participated recently in the Northeast States 4-H Presentations Fest.
This virtual event is aimed at providing 4-H youth with a multistate platform to improve and showcase their presentation skills through feedback from peers and trained evaluators.
The competition is open to youth ages 13-19 from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
The Pennsylvania 4-H'ers qualified for this regional contest after earning top scores in the statewide 4-H presentation and public speaking contests held in July.
The regional competition included three categories: illustrated talk/demonstration, formal speech, and impromptu.
Bruner won the illustrated talk/demonstration category with his "Archery 101" demonstration.
Ferster received second place for his formal speech called "Imagining and Implementing Autonomous Agriculture."
Funk, Payne, and Griswold competed in the formal speech category.
"Giving presentations and speaking publicly is not typically something most people are eager to do," said Amy Schultz Gregor, education program associate for 4-H youth development with Penn State Extension.
"However, it is a valuable and advantageous life skill," she continued. "Giving youth the opportunity to learn about, practice, gain experience and refine these skills is just one of the many opportunities the 4-H program offers to teach real-world life skills, explore careers, build confidence, and help youth find and pursue their passion in life."
Administered in Pennsylvania by Penn State Extension, 4-H is a nonformal educational youth-development program of the United States Department of Agriculture that helps young people develop knowledge and skills to become capable, caring, and contributing citizens. To find your local program, visit the Penn State Extension 4-H website.
