February 15, 2009

t was a really long day, but worthwhile. I was honored to be asked as one of three judges for many 4-H speaking and demonstration contests today. The day started at 7 am for me and ended about 8pm. With lots of driving.

The 4-H members were allowed to pick a topic of their choice and do an original, factual speech about it. This could be about a 4-H project they love or a current issue they are concerned about. The 4-hers speech could inform, persuade or motivate their audience. The students are timed on and judged on their entire speech and marks are given or deducted. Topics included everything from 'My dog Max' to 'Peer pressure and teenagers'. Some were quite humorous.

The demonstration part of the contest ranged from teaching how to line dance, how to bake classic peanut brownies and making a fabric covered 3-ring binder. The final part of the judging was on an impromtu topic made by the judges was "Are speech contests important in 4-H. Why or why not?"  Each student was brought in one-by-one and had one minute to learn the question, then respond. It is a difficult thing to do. I remember those days from when I was in 4-H myself.

There are perks to being a judge. The girls who did the Classic peanut butter brownies, also did a white chocolate brownie and gave samples to us judges. The team who did the 'How to make a fabric covered 3 ring binder', gave one to each of the judges for keeps. Mine is a lovely purple. One of the other judges received one with dragonflies on it. I think I will keep my this years gardening notes in it.

Picture Above: Me in my heavy white sweater, (which I was glad I had as it was cold in the community center), with the other two judges.

Picture Below: Everyone who we judged for the day. Some of the kids were judged up to 4 classes each.