By Laura Allen
N.C. Cooperative Extension

District Activity Day

On Tuesday, June 18, nine Rowan County 4-H’ers competed at the 4-H South Central District Activity Day held at Scotland County High School. All of these youths participated in 4-H presentations, where they had to give a presentation, speech or demonstration to a panel of judges and a classroom full of guests. These youths were divided into age categories by their 4-H age (age they were as of Jan. 1, 2024) and by topic area.

These youths first competed at our County Activity Day on April 19 in order to qualify for the district level event. Each of these 4-H’ers spent weeks preparing for their presentation. During this process, 4-H’ers were able to practice and develop their public speaking and presentation skills while building confidence in their abilities. At District Activity Day, these Rowan County 4-H’ers were competing against 4-H’ers from 18 other counties.

The following Rowan County 4-H’ers participated in 4-H Presentations at District Activity Day:

Gold:

• Careers and entrepreneurship, 8-10 year-olds: Luke Allen

• Horticulture science, 8-10 year-olds: Ada Waller

• Safety, 8-10 year-olds: Natalie Weeder

• Fisheries and aquatic resources, 14-18 year-olds: Nathan Croyle

**Gold winners will receive a monetary award.

Silver:

• Poultry production/preparation, 8-10 year-olds: Maggie Deal

• Livestock and dairy production, 14-18 year-olds: Samantha Simon

• Open class, 14-18 year-olds: Lucas Weeder

Participation:

• Science and technology, 14-18 year-olds: David Croyle

• Cloverbud participation (5-7 year-olds who are non-competition): Sadie Allen

All gold and silver winners move on to compete at the state presentation finals held on July 23 in Raleigh.

During District Activity Day, there was also a 4-H Entertains portion, which is a talent showcase. Elise Budzisch played her guitar while singing a rendition of Rascal Flatts “Bless the Broken Road.” She earned a blue ribbon.

These youths all did a great job representing Rowan County 4-H and gave very thoughtful, technical and thorough presentations. Best wishes to the 4-H’ers who will be representing Rowan County 4-H at the state level in July!

4-H Project Record Books

Rowan 4-H recently received the results from the district competition for 4-H Project Record Books. Each year, 4-H’ers can keep records about their 4-H project work and overall 4-H involvement, based on a calendar year, and submit it for competition. The youths who were recognized at the district level for their project record books based on the 2023 calendar year include:

Gold:

• Nathan Croyle, family & consumer sciences, 13-15 year-olds

• John Tucker, plant science, 8-10 year-olds

**Gold winners will receive a monetary award.

Silver:

• Luke Allen, plant science, 8-10 year-olds

• John Tucker, science and technology, 8-10 year-olds

Bronze:

• Sarah Tucker, communication arts, 8-10 year-olds

Participation/Not Ranked:

• David Croyle, science and technology, 13-15 year-olds

• Nathan Croyle, science and technology, 13-15 year-olds

• Lynlee Propst, animal science, 8-10 year-olds

• Kyann Race, animal science, 8-10 year-olds

• Henry Waller, personal development and leadership, 8-10 year-olds

• Henry Waller, science and technology, 8-10 year-olds

NC 4-H Scholarship

Recent South Rowan High School graduate, Olivia Stirrup, was awarded as the recipient of the Lorna W. Langley North Carolina 4-H Scholarship in the amount of $1,500. This scholarship is awarded annually to a 4-H’er who is enrolling as a college freshman at any university or college in North Carolina, majoring in home economics, family and consumer sciences, or human ecology and has a projected grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Olivia will be majoring in consumer apparel and retail studies at UNC-Greensboro.

Congratulations to all of these 4-H’ers on their learning, growth, and success!

4-H is the youth development component of Cooperative Extension. Any youths ages 5-18 (as of Jan. 1) are invited to enroll and participate in 4-H. Visit us at 2727-A Old Concord Road in Salisbury or rowan.ces.ncsu.edu. For questions or more information, contact 704-216-8970 or laura_allen@ncsu.edu.

Laura Allen is 4-H agent with the Rowan County Extension.