Eight Mitchell County residents recently traveled to Chase High School in Rutherford County for the annual District 4-H presentation competition to watch three 4-H’ers present their county-winning presentation.
All three were selected as the top 4-H’ers in their categories and earned a trip to compete with 4-H’ers from across the state.
In the 8-10-year-old division for the Foods and Nutrition category, Bella Chapman developed and prepared a presentation titled Bella’s Pizzeria. She demonstrated how to make a pepperoni pizza with lots of cheese, cooked it and served it to the judges.
Bella Chapman was also awarded points for sharing the nutritional value of pizza and fun facts. She was declared the district silver winner and will move on to compete in the state 4-H competition. She is the daughter of Randall and Kelly Chapman of Spruce Pine.
Parker Hughes of Bakersville was another winner in that age group. He selected Science and Technology as his subject matter and chose to ask: is there life out there?
He researched and developed a PowerPoint presentation on Mars. His judges commented on his ability to find and share interesting current events in the presentation.
For his hard work, he was named a district winner. Hughes will also travel to North Carolina State University where he will compete with others his age for a chance to be named State Champion. Parker’s parents are Stacy and Sarah Hughes.
Mylee Chapman brought home the gold medal in the 11-to-13-year-old Beef Char Grill category. During her two-hour presentation, she set up the grill and prepared her charcoal, created a rub and seasoned the three cuts of steak and prepared her final display while the charcoal was rising in temperature.
Mylee grilled the steak to three degrees of doneness and added a baked potato dressed with sour cream, chives and butter. The three were then plated and she made a formal presentation to the panel of four judges to share nutrition information and fun facts.
One of her judges commented that the presentation was the best she had ever seen in a char grill category. Mylee Chapman will also travel to the state competition.
Awards for these three and other categories are provided by donors such as the Dinah Gore 4-H Endowment and the North Carolina Cattlemen’s Beef Council.
The Mitchell County 4-H Youth Development Program is part of the Cooperative Extension Center and provides educational opportunities for ages five to 18.
In addition to developing speaking skills, kids can learn record-keeping and develop leadership and citizenship skills. Each 4-H program helps develop life skills in the kids who participate.
To learn more about how to get involved in 4-H, contact the Cooperative Extension Center at 688-4811.
