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.
