On Feb. 3, 14 4-H members in fourth through eighth grades participated in the Chester County 4-H Public Speaking Contest. Their eligibility to participate was based on their first or second place standing in each student’s respective 4-H club.
After an hour of well prepared, intriguing speeches, volunteer judges made their final decisions.
In fourth grade, Tiquiasha Barham, Zayden Walker and Randi Martin were recognized for their participation. Kynlie Kizer earned the third place spot, and Miquisha Barham placed second. Amelia Guthrie earned first place.
In fifth grade Gracelyn Galloway earned the third place spot, and Gracie Freeman placed second. Hudson Lewis earned first place.
In sixth grade, Savannah Carnell earned first place.
In seventh grade, Dori Rautbort came in third place, and Ariel Faulkner came in second place. The first place award went to Damien Mayo.
The top eighth grade spot was earned by Daisy McManus.
On Tuesday, Feb. 4, Xavier Falkenheim represented Chester County at the Western Region 4-H Public Speaking Contest for high school students at Lexington Middle School. He competed against eight other freshmen in the prepared speech and extemporaneous speech contests. He was recognized for his outstanding participation.
Due to the generosity of local donors to the Chester County 4-H Youth Development program, students earning first, second or third place in each grade earned monetary prizes.
Those earning first place in their respective grades will have the opportunity to compete on the sub-regional level on March 10 in Covington. They will compete against 4-H members in their same grades from Madison, Haywood, Hardeman, Shelby, Tipton, Fayette, and McNairy Counties.
We would like to say a special “thank you” to our volunteer judges: Darlene Goff, Amy Wooley, Rick Seaton and Mia McNeal.
We would also like to thank our room monitors Hannah Stoneman and Aja Stovall.
Finally, we thank Dr. Belinda Anderson and Chester County Junior High School for the use of their facilities for the county-wide contest.
