By Jordan Studer
On Saturday morning, Junior Fair members gathered at the 2017 Junior Fair Skillathon to “show what they know” about their livestock projects. According to Allison Cooper, 4-H youth development educator, approximately 250 families and 370 individuals participated in the Skillathon this year.
Skillathon provides a chance for kids to show judges that they know their animal. Each individual livestock committee runs the judging of their station differently. Different questions may be asked by each livestock committee.
“Each species is a little different, but we just try to encourage our committees to let the kids know what’s going to be expected of them. And sometimes when they get here, they’re prepared,” Cooper said.
No matter the questions, each 4-H member wears a sticker indicating their level in 4-H. The three levels worn by members are Junior, Intermediate, and Senior. Their level and experience in 4-H determines the difficulty of their questions.
“Each of the individual livestock committees tries to let them know what to study for, just try to give them general tips. They can come in and loan out the Skillathon kits to practice anytime before fair. A lot of clubs will actually rent out all of the kits and do a whole day with their club and go through all of the different kits, which has the parts and the breeds, and that kind of stuff already in them,” Cooper said.
As the kids awaited their turn to show the judges their knowledge, many sat reviewing their books and notes again, while others calmly rehearsed in their heads. One participant, Senior 4-H member of Barnyard Guys and Gals 4-H Club, Courtney Britt showed no nerves at all.
Britt said that as a nine-year member of 4-H, she felt pretty familiar with her animals and the way Skillathon works. She takes alpacas, goats, and rabbits every year and at first, it takes some getting used to.
“After the first couple of years, you start to get the hang of things. You start to become really familiar with your animal and the project itself. You become very knowledgeable about everything about them to the extent of the project,” Britt said.
Sitting next to her younger brother, Brandon Britt, an Intermediate 4-H member, she explained that as a family who all shows animals, they enjoy helping each other out as much as possible. As they sat reviewing for the final time, it appeared they also enjoy giving each other advice to better their abilities.
Courtney Britt offered advice for those just starting out in 4-H.
“Don’t get discouraged if something doesn’t go right at first. It takes a lot of work to get your animal very comfortable with you and the showing experience. So just keep working with it and don’t give up on the first try if it decides to be really skittish and try to run from you if you try to pet it or something. Just keep working with it,” Courtney Britt said.
First-year Senior 4-H member of Dairy Maids and Gents 4-H Club, Maddie Tieben was excited to say that she is taking dairy cows and rabbits this year.
“I’ve taken rabbits probably about nine years, and this is my second year taking a dairy cow… I’m taking two heifers this year,” Tieben said.
Tieben said she prepares with plenty of studying dairy cows.
“This year I tried to go through the resource book a bit more because it’s a bigger resource book than the rabbits and I had to really make sure that I knew some of them. Because it’s my first year as a senior, I wasn’t sure what was going to be on the Skillathon,” Maddie said.
Younger brother Bryce Tieben, an Intermediate 4-H member of Dairy Maids and Gents 4-H Club, took on the load of showing poultry, dairy, and market rabbits this year. He said that though he has seven years of experience under his belt in showing poultry, this is his first year showing market rabbits, and he prepared for the Skillathon by studying with his sisters.
When interviewing a few Junior 4-H members, they seemed to be a bit more jittery than their fellow Intermediate and Senior 4-H members.
Emma Morrison, first year junior 4-H member of Mt. Zion Buckeyes 4-H Club, who is showing goats this year, said that she was on edge. When asked what her tactic was to prepare for Skillathon, she nervously laughed and said, “I guess I just showed up.”
Morrison said being her first year in 4-H, preparing for Skillathon for the first time was a learning experience.
“I worked on my book two days before this and got it done last night,” Morrison said.
Sitting next to Morrison trying to keep her calm was Samantha Utz, second year Junior 4-H member of Chatfield Blue Ribbons 4-H Club, who is also taking goats this year. With one year under her belt, Utz felt she had a bit more of a grasp on how to prepare for Skillathon.
“I’m not as scared as I was last year. I’ve got some of this remembered. I looked over the resource book like 20 times,” Utz said.
Oftentimes parents are just as nervous as their children.
One parent who was calm was Marilyn Ehmann. Ehmann said that her daughter Claire had been in 4-H many years but had just graduated and got a job this summer, so she only has her son Keith remaining in 4-H.
Ehmann said despite the preparation it takes, a Skillathon has always had huge benefits for her children.
“I think it’s a great thing. It teaches them more responsibility and that it’s not just about walking a calf or feeding the calf, there’s so much more! There’s the financial side to it, which is hard for kids to understand, but this is a step in the right direction for them to understand it,” Ehmann said.
Though the nerves of many 4-H members may have been relieved after the end of Skillathon, many are still anxious to see their results. Cooper said the results of the Skillathon are expected to be posted by the first day of the fair.