Local Students Participate in Public Speaking Contest

A teenage Indian female standing in a kitchen with food preparation in front of her. — Graduating Senior Mahathi Velure shows off her healthy meal that she prepared in the Festive Foods for Health project.

Heather Haines, 4-H Agent, UGA Extension Forsyth County

Each year, local students in 7^th through 12^th grade submit a Portfolio to the local Extension Office to signify their intent to participate in Junior/Senior Project Achievement in March. Portfolios are a celebration of youth’s work and accomplishments over the last calendar year. The document is two pages long and highlight the youth’s work in a specific project, their leadership activities, community service, and other events that they would like the judges to consider. Creating a portfolio provides young people with valuable life experience for when they need to create resumes for their careers.

Next, youth create an oral presentation on their chosen project area. Topics are offered in more than 50 different program areas with nearly every topic of interest or educational area available for exploration and presentation. Presentations are scored by area content experts. Project achievement ends at the district competition the 7^th and 8^th graders, however, if a Senior 4-Her place 1st in their project, they advance to State Congress. State Congress is a four-day event held in July of every year in Atlanta. This event brings together 4-Hers who excelled in their project work from all four districts in the state. Here 4-Hers compete for Master Status in their project by placing 1st in the state.

This year’s Junior and Senior Project Achievement Participants included:

Tallulah Bates, Health, 4^th place

Atharv Chiravarapu, Food Safety and Preservation, 3^rd place

Avanni Joshi, Public Speaking, 1^st place

Mackenzie Kimbarl, Sports 3^rd place

Navin Majji, Performing Arts—Other Instrumental, honorable mention

Mohana Malapati, Health, honorable mention

Rathna Malapati, Performing Arts – Other Instrumental, 4^th place

Neeva Patel, Arts, 2^nd place

Alessandra Reneau, Performing Arts—Piano, 1^st place

Lucas Rymer, Dog Care and Training, 1^st place

Mahathi Velure, Food Labs: Festive Foods for Health, honorable mention

Lily Wright, Sports – Individual, 3^rd place

The Forsyth County Extension / 4-H staff would like to thank United Way of Forsyth County for their continued support of our public speaking competitions.