COURT HOUSE – Several Cape May County 4-H members stepped up to participate in 2021 4-H Public Presentations.
According to a release, normally scheduled to take place in person at the end of March, the reimagined annual event was held virtually for the second year in a row due to continued Covid restrictions.
With no in-person meetings, programs or events in more than a year, 4-H members and club leaders have had to adapt to an almost entirely virtual 4-H world. Although a little more challenging, 57 Cape May County 4-Hers, ranging from ages 5 to 18, submitted presentations this year, compared to 34 in 2020.
The four categories for presentations included illustrated talk, demonstration, performing arts, and formal speech. The varied topics covered ranged from the evolution of the modern horse to red pandas, the age of sharks, horseshoe crabs, Anne Frank, and how to plant a sunflower.
“We are so very proud of our 4-H members who made the extra effort to perform a public presentation virtually for a second year. The 4-H motto is ‘to make the best better,’ and our kids do that every day. All of us, including youth members, parents, judges and staff, are super excited about getting back to our in-person Public Presentations Week next year. Their topics are always so interesting, and we all learn so much from them,” stated Linda Horner, Cape May County 4-H program coordinator.
Special thank you to 4-H consultant Alicia Arnold, who organized the 2021 Public Presentations with the assistance of trained 4-H volunteer judges Jessica Axelsson, Gayle Crookston, Jessica Hartman, Stephanie Hoover, Sheila Jargowski, Crystal Neill and Diane Stelacio.
4-H Public Presentations are judged using the Danish System, which compares competitors to standards of achievement based on age and years of experience, not to one another. 4-H members in grades 8 through 13 who receive an excellent rating are eligible to compete in the state public presentations program in July.
Thirteen Cape May County 4-H’ers who qualified for the state competition are Alexa Anaya, Breitton Bird, Nora Conover, Ryan Couse, Kathleen DeGenova, Robert Elwell, Julianne Frederick, Elise Heim, Eddie Hoover, Kate Mihal, Lauren Miller, Autumn Richards and Caileigh Schalick.
