Spring 2012 - 4-H Ontario

members have been taught that they
judge everything from the moment
they wake up in the morning to the
second they go to sleep at night. And
the skills the learned will last them a
lifetime.
When the members walked onto
our farm for the first meeting of the
year, the look on their faces told a
truer story than words could have,
describing how they felt about judging.
As leader and youth leader, my mom
and I could easily read their minds.
“Yup, it’s just another 4-H credit. Same
old thing.” But when my mom told the
kids that their first task was to judge
bubbles, their eyes went as big as
saucers. “How in the world do you
judge bubbles” was the unanimous
questions. It was explained that each
of them had to blow bubbles, and then
judge who blew the most, the biggest,
and the longest. From that moment,
the standard was set. Following the
bubbles, the members had to judge
water pails fro a fair (the criteria was
a one day fair where they had to carry
the pail a long distance), as well as
hats, flowers, gum and pens.
Excitement spread as they anxiously
waited for the next meeting. And what
met them the following week were
beach balls, chairs, candy, water guns,
horses, and marshmallow sticks. They
worked their way through the judging
of the items, as well as reasoning out
why they placed each item where they
did. The members established that
even if their placements were wrong
according to the official placing, if well
done, their reasons could still raise
their score. Their memories of the
previous week’s fun were refreshed
as they used the marshmallow sticks
to make and judge smores, judging
who’s was the best. They learned that
you need to judge fairly, even when
you have something of your own in the
competition.
The weeks flew by as the members
went from easily distinguished classes
and placings to harder classes
and reasons. But in every case,
the class was always well enjoyed
and the judging went hand in hand
with fun. Finally, six weeks after the
club started, it was the day all the
kids had been waiting for. The Grey
Bruce Judging Competition was the
achievement day, and the kids were
full of adrenaline as they got ready to
compete with their judging skills. The
classes were hard and some were
unexpected, but afterward the club felt
enthusiastic. When the winners were
announced, 4 out of 8 of our club’s
members placed, with our youngest
member winning three awards!
This year has been an experience
with the new and improved judging
club. With the crazy classes, eye
opening ideas, water fights, and a
whole lot of fun, I can’t wait for next
year. There will be more members
because the news of fun we have had
has spread to many others. But with
more members in the club, it means
more opportunities for excitement and
learning, and more ideas for things to
judge. And to think it all started with
judging bubbles!
Nicole, a Grey 4-H Member, submitted the
winning entry in the Senior Category of the
2011 Amber Underwood Memorial News
Competition. Nicole has completed 24 4-H
projects.
Essex 4-H Member Awarded
CIBC 4-H Scholarship
In mid January the Canadian 4-H
Council and CIBC announced the
recipients of the 2012 CIBC 4-H
Scholarship. Each of the three
recipients is in their last year of
study in secondary school and were
each awarded $2,500 toward postsecondary
education. One of the
recipients was Leah Meanwell, a
Senior Essex 4-H Member.
Leah plans on attending the University
of British Columbia, Vancouver
campus, this fall where she has been
accepted for Kinesiology with hopes
of becoming a physiotherapist. At first,
she couldn’t believe she was one of
three Members selected from the pool
off 99 applicants. “I found out I won
the scholarship through email and I
thought it was a joke, that one of my
friends had somehow forged it, or that
it was spam. When I realized that
neither of those were very probable
and that the news was real, I was
ecstatic,” Leah explained.
Applicants must submit their
2010/2011 grade average, a 500-word
essay on what 4-H has done for them,
what they hope to achieve through
higher education, and three reference
letters.
Leah’s favourite 4-H projects have
been Printmaking and Dark-Room
Photography. Her Club Leaders
for both were Kimmy and Marshall
Heaton, who also gave her a reference
for this scholarship.
Danica Jensen, a 4-H Member
in British Columbia, and Jessica
Overmars, a Nova Scotia 4-H
Member, were the other 2012
scholarship recipients. “We continue to
be impressed by the exceptional work
and community contributions of 4-H
youth right across Canada,” said Steve
Meston, Senior Vice-President, CIBC
Commercial Banking. Congratulations
Leah, and good luck in the fall!
Leadership In Action • Spring 2012