2016 Montana 4-H Congress

The 2016 Montana 4-H Congress started and ended well for Teton County.  The event began with a Montana 4-H Ambassador meeting where the new slate of State 4-H Officers was announced.  After announcing four officer positions that fourteen youth from across the state were vying for, it was announced that Watson Snyder, of Teton County, was selected as president.  4-H members applying for state officers complete a two-day interview process. 

The second day of Congress, all of the Teton County 4-H delegates competed in contests.  Maria Murnane, Caroline Roeder, Kylee Ruckman, Claire Ruckman and Watson Snyder made up the livestock evaluation team for Teton County, judging several classes of livestock and giving reasons.  Hanna Antonsen competed in the Stir-Ups contest, a “top chef” style cooking event.  Antonsen made zucchini boats using green pulses.  The theme for the event focused on pulse crops, as it is the International Year of the Pulse.  In addition to being judged on her food safety, cooking and plating skills, Antonsen also gave an oral presentation for judges.  Daniel Asselstine competed in the new video contest with his video on the importance of character and what builds character.  The video contest entailed showing a video, giving a presentation on the video and an interview with judges.  An additional benefit to this contest was that one of the judges, Aaron Pruitt with Montana PBS, was very instructional and offered an impromptu tour of the PBS facilities for all video contestants.  Annie Townsend and Hannah Konen both competed in the fashion revue with wool lined ensembles. The fashion revue contestants are judges on sewing, poise, modeling and an interview with judges.

After competitions were completed, Teton County 4-H members enjoyed guest speakers and a range of workshops including robotics, natural resources, agriculture, career exploration and self-defense.  The state contest winners were announced with Teton County Livestock Judging Team placing sixth, Hanna Antonsen placing sixth in Stir-Ups and Daniel Asselstine placing second in video.  During the closing banquet, Kyra Bouma was recognized as a Barbara Edens Memorial 4-H Scholarship winner.  Townsend and Konen modeled their wool outfits in front of a crowd of 400 people.  Konen was announced as the first place winner in the fashion revue, earning trip to National 4-H Congress in Atlanta.  Townsend, who had submitted a state award application, story and creative project, was announces as a 4-H State Award winner in textiles.  She will also attend National 4-H Congress to represent Montana. 

The delegation was chaperoned by Brent Roeder and Jane Wolery, MSU Extension Agents in Teton County.  The group was also joined by Janae Ruckman who assisted with the livestock judging contest, Tammy and Katie Townsend, Jason Asselstine and RT and Susan Snyder.  Jayelyn Ruckman, Teton County 4-H Alum, was in attendance as an MSU Extension intern serving in Gallatin County. 

Summer Time!

Teton County 4-H members, Jayelyn Ruckman, Ali Willekes, Claire Ruckman, Kylee Ruckman, Maria Murnane and Watson Snyder, all competed at the Montana State 4-H Congress July 7-10 on the Montana State University campus in Bozeman.  The 4-Hers competed in livestock evaluation, horse evaluation and demonstrations contest.  Jayelyn Ruckman, competing for her last time at Congress, placed second overall in livestock evaluation.  Ruckman plans to attend Casper College on the livestock judging team, putting her well-developed skills to use.  Ruckman also received the Anton and Helga Sunsted Pioneer scholarship to use for her college expenses.

Ali Willekes, Claire Ruckman and Kylee Ruckman formed a livestock judging team with Cascade County 4-H member, Natalie Gerard.  (Because Jayelyn Ruckman had previously competed at Western National, she was unable to participate on the team.)  The team placed second in the contest, aided by individual scores from Claire Ruckman placing sixth overall, Kylee Ruckman placing ninth and Ali Willekes, competing for her first time, placing nineteenth and soundly in the top half of individuals. 

Maria Murnane was an individual competitor in the horse judging and placed sixth.  She is in her second year competing in that category.

Watson Snyder, the only first-time competitor in the delegation, placed fifth with his demonstration titled, Second Fiddle to None.  Snyder taught about the parts of the violin and foot positions of the violin while sharing about the power of the violin to give hope and inspiration.  Snyder was called back for the finals round and has earned a spot on the Montana delegation to National 4-H Congress this fall in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Sarah Hodgskiss and her family joined Teton County for the final banquet at Congress where she received the W. Doyle Stocks scholarship.  Hodgskiss will attend MSU Bozeman this fall. 

Besides competitive events at Congress, delegates participate in team-building activities, educational workshops and leadership training.  The Teton County group attended classes on animal science taught by Dr. Rachel Endecott and Phil Merta, Lead with Resilience taught by Mandie Reed, Rangelands taught by Dan Lucas and Youth Leadership Institute taught by Campbell Barrett. 

The group, chaperoned by Jane Wolery, enjoyed two excellent presentations during general sessions.  Ben Glenn, the Chalk Guy, spoke about overcoming adversity and how to take struggles and turn them into triumphs.  To emphasize his point, he creates an artwork with chalk on a giant board in front of the audience.  His “performance art” is set to music and drives home the point about creating beauty in one’s own life, using all life experiences to create a masterpiece. 

The delegation agreed that one of the highlights of the conference was listening to Dr. Eugene Schoenfeld, a holocaust survivor born in Czechoslovakia.  At 89 years, Dr. Schoenfeld stood for nearly 90 minutes recounting his story and holding the audience in rapt attention.  Schoenfeld’s message was one of compassion and humanity.  Even as he answered questions from the audience, his answers were more than factual, they were lessons in how to forgive, heal, and treat others. He said he felt our jobs on earth were to learn how to treat each other more humanely.  Schoenfeld survived concentration camps in Auschwitz, Warsaw, Dachau and Muhldorf.  Many of his family members did not survive the atrocities. 

The theme of 4-H Congress was “The Amazing Race” and lessons abounded at Congress in how to be part of the most amazing race, the human race.  

Chemical -- Reaction!  Seventy-one people took part recently in the education explosion at the Teton County 4-H Mad Lab July 14-16 at Camp Rotary.  Ten 4-H camp counselors have been working to plan camp since February.  Camp counselors learn leadership, communication and team skills while preparing the lessons, activities, recreation, camp fires and classes at 4-H camp.

With the science theme, campers learned everything from baking science to rocket launching.  Classes ranged from thought-provoking, with Honore Holmquist sharing about cerebral palsy and letting campers sample some of the challenges she faces with muscle control to inspiring, with Caroline Roeder teaching cryptology.  As a result, many coded messages where found throughout 4-H Camp.  There were active classes involving sport science with Zane Somerfeld investigating pressure in balls to movement science with dance classes by Watson Snyder and Hanna Konen.  Maria Murnane, Austin Rogers and Katelyn Antonsen helped 4-H members experiment with emulsion, bubbles, acid-base reactions, lava lamps, and bouncy balls.  Annie Townsend and Javy Somerfeld provide art science classes with glass etching and clay fossil creations.  Watson Snyder organized two classes on rocketry and was assisted by  the other counselors.  Caroline Roeder and Katelyn Antonsen assisted with a cupcake experiment with Caroline Rogers and Jane Wolery.  Members rotated through stations learning about gluten, leavening, measurements and a decorating station where they made a campfire cupcake.  Caroline Roeder and Katelyn Antonsen also played mind games with campers sharing some of what they learned about neuroscience through their participation in the eight-month 4-H BioScience program last year. 

4-H Camp provides an opportunity for youth to develop leadership and team-building skills, independence and belonging, and to learn new skills.  Campers enjoy games, camp fires, singing, dances and outdoor recreation in addition to the classes at camp.  The Teton County 4-H program welcomes both 4-H members and non-members to attend and participate in their yearly youth camp activities.