Hopkins County 4-H’ers Bring Home Awards
Summer is a busy time around the Hopkins County Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Office! Our summer has included the Hopkins County Dairy Festival and Dairy Show; three-week Kids’ Camp: Fun, Food, Fitness; District 4-H Record Book contest; three-day Multi-County 4-H Camp; 4-H Montana Exchange trip fund-raisers; and preparation for the 4-day Skills Camp…and I’m tired! However, I love my job and my husband knows that I thrive on staying busy!
My co-worker, Mario and I, recently returned from Multi-County 4-H Camp, held at Lakeview Baptist Conference Center and Camp, in Lone Star. I led the “Fun with Food” workshops. This included a hands-on activity in which campers made and named their own snack mix. MyPlate Jeopardy was also used to provide a little friendly competition while reinforcing nutrition information, kitchen safety, and fight bac (bacteria/food safety). Mario, along with his wife, led the Archery workshops, where campers learned the correct techniques for holding a bow and arrow, aiming, shooting a target, archery terminology, and safety. Other sessions included Ropes course, Nature (campers made a walking stick from bamboo stalks), Healthy Lifestyles (team games), and STEM (campers used simple robots and drones to accomplish a given task). Free-time was also included for campers to swim, kayak, hike, fish, play ping-pong, visit the snack shack or gift shop, or simply hang out with other campers.
Hopkins County was represented by 17 youth and adults at this camp, including my college intern. 4-H members, in addition to Hopkins County, included Hunt, Camp, Cass, Kaufman, Bowie, Upshur, and Wood Counties. Our 4-H’ers came home with numerous awards that were given on the last day of camp:
- Braden Lennon – “Fish Hook Award”
- Joel Villarino – Healthy Lifestyles team award
- Honesty Bridges – STEM team award and Jeopardy team award
- Jacy Barnett – team skit award and Team competition awards
- Maddie Holt – Healthy Lifestyles team award
- Trinity Sickles – STEM team award
- Elida Miller – MyPlate Jeopardy Team award
- Aspen Mayhew, Emily Everett, and Alexis Villarino did an awesome job on team work and in workshops!
Hopkins County 4-H members Geoffrey Stewart and Cade Goldsmith attended Ultra 4-H Leadership Lab. This camp is for 4-H members ages 14 and up and focuses on leadership. Many activities, including team work and speeches from District 4-H Council officers, took place.
Congratulations to each of these 4-H members for being part of camp week!
Diabetes 1st Step: Live Healthy, be Hopeful
Texas AM& AgriLife Extension Service is offering a free online, self-paced course on the basics of diabetes self-management. This would be particularly beneficial for people who are newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, or for those who want to learn more about diabetes self-care. To register for the free online course, go to: https://extensiononline.tamu.edu/courses/health.php From there, just follow the onscreen instructions. For more information, call our office at 903-885-3443.
Closing Thought
Motivation will almost always beat mere talent – anonymous