ALBION, Ill. – Eleven 4-H members from Edwards, Richland, and Wayne counties delivered an excellent array of speeches at the local 4-H public speaking competition on Monday, Feb. 16. Illinois Extension serving Edwards, Lawrence, Richland, Wabash, and Wayne counties hosted the unit-wide competition to encourage 4-H members to participate in the communications 4-H project and improve their public speaking skills.
Categories of speeches included formal speeches, original works, an illustrated speech, and oral interpretations with topics ranging from cover crops to the universal swine ear notching system.
“It is great to see an increase in youth participating in public speaking. All the speeches were amazing, and I know our judge had a hard time selecting State Fair delegates from each of our counties,” said Samantha Gaither, Illinois Extension 4-H youth development educator. “We are excited to see each of these delegates compete at the state level in April and for them to gain more experience to bring back to their communities.”
The top five speeches for the local competition were awarded as follows:
First place: Levi Clodfelter, Richland County
Second place: Aleine Berger, Richland County
Third place: Niyah Hawkins, Edwards County
Fourth place: Shailey and Charles Roush, Richland County
Fifth place: Kenleigh and Silas Keyser, Wayne County
Each county could advance up to three speeches to the Illinois State 4-H Public Speaking Contest on April 25 in Champaign. The following were selected as State Fair delegates for their county:
Edwards County: Niyah Hawkins
Richland County: Levi Clodfelter, Aleine Berger, Seth Clodfelter
Wayne County: Addison Hutchcraft, Kenleigh and Silas Keyser
Shailey and Charles Roush were also selected as State Fair alternates for Richland County.
Thank you to Courtney Yost for volunteering to judge the speaking competition. For more information about 4-H within the five-county unit, visit extension.illinois.edu/elrww.
University of Illinois Extension develops educational programs, extends knowledge, and builds partnerships to support people, communities, and their environments as part of the state's land-grant institution. Extension serves as the leading public outreach effort for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in all 102 Illinois counties through a network of 27 multi-county units and over 500 staff statewide. Extension’s mission is responsive to eight strategic priorities — community, economy, environment, food and agriculture, health, partnerships, technology and discovery, and workforce excellence — that are served through five program areas — 4-H youth development, agriculture and agribusiness, community and economic development, health and community wellness, and natural resources, environment, and energy.