Currituck County 4-H hosted its Annual 4-H Achievement Night and Leaders Recognition Celebration at Currituck County Extension on March 2, 2023. Achievement Night recognizes 4-H members for their outstanding accomplishments and volunteerism through 4-H. Volunteers are also recognized in appreciation of their hard work and commitment to the Currituck County 4-H program.
Over the course of the year, 87 Currituck County 4-H’ers participated in a multitude of County, District, State and National level events and competitions. The ceremony celebrated the dedication and commitment of these youth and highlighted the awards (239) they earned and the milestones achieved during this program year. Currituck 4-H’ers were recognized for their achievements in Project Records, Public Speaking, Leadership, Shooting Sports, Volunteerism, Citizenship, Equine Science (Horse Shows, Horse Bowl and Horse Judging), Electric, STEM, Poultry, Livestock and Expressive Arts.
County Champions-Project Records:
Project Records are records of accomplishments compiled by 4-H’ers to record concepts learned in a particular subject matter. They are judged at the county and then county champion records are submitted for judging at the State level. Currituck Project Record winners for 2022 were:
Cloverbud Superstars: (5-8 year olds with 5 or more project records submitted)
Hayden Basen, Benjamin Larsen, Colin Plum and Peaches Wright
8-10 year old
Annie Larsen- Plant Science:
Karleigh Meads-Animal Science
Jacob Plum-Healthy Lifestyles
11-12 year old
Emma Hoit- Citizenship & Civic Education
Amanda Jennings-Science & Technology
Caleb Minton– Environmental Science & Healthy Lifestyles
Poppy Wright-Animal Science
13-15 year old
Elijah Campbell-Communications & Expressive Arts & Science & Technology
16-18 yr old
Megan Armstrong- Animal Science and Citizenship & Civic Education
Currituck County 4-H Achievement Award-Emerald
A “4-H Jacket” to youth ages 16-18 to acknowledge and celebrate their accomplishments during their 4-H career. Youth must have a well-rounded portfolio of participation in County, District and State 4-H events and complete a point-based application to earn their jacket. This year’s recipient was Sammy Shawgo.
NC 4-H National Team Competition
Several NC 4-H program categories offer National level competitions for senior 4-H’ers (14-18yr) who place first in their state competitions. Currituck County had two 4-Her’s compete nationally in 2022:
Kilynn Brinkley: competed at the 4-H National Championships-Shooting Sports in Grand Island, NE as a member of the NC 4-H Air Rifle Team and Cayden Lowe competed at Southern Regional 4-H Championships (GA), the Eastern 4-H Round-up (KY), and the American Quaterhorse Congress (OH) as a member of the NC 4-H Communications Team (Horse).
Outstanding Members of the Year- were selected for the overall level of excellence in their 2022 4-H program work. This year’s 4-Hers of the year were: 8-10 Karleigh Meads; 11-12 Poppy Wright; 13-15 Elijah Campbell and 16-18 Cayden Lowe.
NC 4-H Honor Club
Membership in the North Carolina 4-H Honor Club is bestowed upon those 4-H’ers who have exhibited outstanding 4-H citizenship and leadership throughout their 4-H career. Youth must have completed three or more years of 4-H club work and shall be at least 16 years of age. The total number of applicants inducted into the NC 4-H Honor Club shall be limited to .5% of the current enrollment of North Carolina 4-H members. Currituck County 4-H member Ashton Lowe was inducted in 2022.
Volunteer Recognition
Volunteers are critical to the overall success of the Currituck County 4-H program and many of these youth accomplishments were directly impacted by volunteer’s service to the program. Recognized for their service and leadership to the 4-H program were: Kathy Melton, Jason Fredrick, Eric Brinkley, Malcolm Murray, Lee Morris, Michael Phelps, Thomas Castellow, Mike Richards, Heather Campbell, Loretta Shawgo, Hannah Meads, Nora Tarpley, Kristi Basen, Amy Larsen, Victoria Plum, Jody Lockhart, and Lisa Starcher.
Heather Campbell was named the 2022 Club Volunteer of the Year for her outstanding leadership and dedication as the Leader of three 4-H Clubs and her commitment to, and support of, many other Extension programs.
Congratulations to all of our award winners. It was a great evening of celebration and recognition of 4-H making the best better.
Youth interested in joining 4-H or adults interesting in volunteering to share any knowledge or skills with youth should contact the 4-H Agent, Sherry Fischlschweiger at the Currituck Extension Center; 252-232-2261, or Sherry_Fischlschweiger@ncsu.edu.
4-H is North Carolina’s largest youth development organization, equipping more than 263,000 young people each year with the skills to succeed and improve the world around them. 4-H programs and camps encourage young people to “learn by doing,” helping them to develop into active, contributing citizens. NC State Extension and the Cooperative Extension Program at N.C. A&T State University coordinate 4-H programs statewide.