Hopkins County 4-H Members in the News – Again! by Johanna Hicks, Family & Community Health Agent

[adning id=”33097″]

Hopkins County is honored to have some outstanding youth in the 4-H program!  District 4-H Contests were held recently in Farmersville for 4-H members across the northeast Texas district – 22 counties to be exact.  Three from Hopkins County walked away with awards. 

[adning id=”33207″]

Here are the results:

Senior division (grades 9-12):

• Rylie Carroll, 1^st place, Fashion Show Buying category, Special Interest
• Rylie Carroll, 1^st place, Food Show, Healthy Dessert
• Rylie Carroll, 3^rd place, Public Speaking
• Rylie Carroll, 9^th high individual, Consumer Decision Making

Intermediate Division (grades 6-8):

• Diego Childs, 1^st place, Share-the-Fun Poetry/Prose
• Diego Childs, 7^th place, Food Show, Main Dish
• Blaine Allen, 3^rd place, Food Show, Side Dish

Diego Childs also participated in and completed the Northeast Texas Green Jacket Academy.  The academy was held virtually for the purpose of developing leadership among eligible youth.  Diego participated in Zoom meetings and completed the requirements.  He was presented with the completion pin at the April 4-H County Council meeting.

Hopkins County will be represented at District 4-H Shooting Sports contests in Archery.  Stephanie Stewart is the team’s coach, and the team has been practicing one to two times each week in preparation for the contests.  The Archery meet will take place on May 1. 

Two high school senior 4-H members received the Janie Crump Memorial 4-H Scholarship to go toward college expenses.  Janie Crump was the Family & Consumer Sciences Extension agent for 30+ years in Hopkins County before her retirement from Extension in 2001.  She made an impact on youth and adults alike while in that position.  The 4-H Scholarship was named after her in 2015 and continues to honor outstanding 4-H applicants.

Jorja Bessonett, daughter of Bill and Cherrie Bessonett, is a senior at Miller Grove High school.  She has been a Hopkins County 4-H member for 10 years and has held offices on the club and county level, and served as a district 4-H delegate.  Her major 4-H projects have been Food & Nutrition, Clothing and Textiles, Family Life, Beef, and Health & Personal Safety.  4-H awards have included the Gold Star Award, Danforth “I Dare You” award, state record book award and numerous community service projects.  She plans to attend Texas A&M University – Commerce, and major in Kinesiology, followed by a Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program. 

Savannah Allen, daughter of Sara Allen, is a senior at Sulphur Springs High School.  She has been a Hopkins County 4-H member for 10 years and has held offices on the club, county, district, and state levels, most recently as a TX 4-H Livestock Ambassador.  Her major projects have been Beef, Leadership, Photography, veterinary science, food & nutrition, and livestock judging.  Some of her 4-H Awards include Gold Star Award, Danforth “I Dare You” award, Vet Tech program completion, numerous public speaking awards, Outstanding Intermediate and Junior awards, and numerous community service projects.  Savannah plans to attend Texas A&M University with a major in Animal Science and minor in Ag Economics focusing on real estate.

Both of these young ladies were selected to interview for a Texas 4-H Opportunities Scholarship in College Station on April 24, with amounts ranging from $3,000 to $20,000.  As of this writing, results are not known, but we want to wish them the very best in their future endeavors.

Closing Thought

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream – C.S. Lewis

[adning id=”33207″]