The Fulton County 4-H Public Speaking Contest and Performing Arts Contest were held on Saturday, April 1 at the Checkrow Community Church in rural Avon.  4-H member Addison Fidler presented an original works speech on Fake Meat; Dalton Leezer presented a formal speech on Diabetes; and 4-H member Aliyah Janssen presented a humorous oral interpretation of Unchatty Cathy. All three participants received Blue ratings and qualified to move on to the Illinois State 4-H Public Speaking Contest on April 29 in Champaign. Aliyah Janssen was named Best of Show Winner for Public Speaking.

The Performing Arts Show was held immediately after the Public Speaking Contest. Five talented 4-H performers entertained the audience with musical duets, piano recitals, and solos. Aliyah and Benton Janssen performed a vocal duet “I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon” with Aliyah on the piano; Aerianna Spangler played “Amazing Grace” on the piano; Joel Featherlin performed by singing “The Vagabond”; and Mallory Kotewa concluded the Performing Arts Show with “The Toymaker” on the piano. All five contestants received Blue ratings. Best of Show Performing Arts Senior Division was awarded to Mallory Kotewa, and Performing Arts Junior Division winner was Aerianna Spangler.  

Judge for this year’s event was Emily Webel of Farmington; she gave many helpful comments to the Public Speaking 4-H members, and offered much praise to every one of the talented 4-H performers.

Public Speaking is an important skill for youth to gain, and is practiced regularly in the 4-H Program, through talks and demonstrations at 4-H club meetings and more.  Learning to speak and perform in front of even a few people can be less scary when the audience members are your friends.

For more information on the University of Illinois Extension 4-H Program in Fulton County, call the Extension office at 547-3711.