UNION COUNTY, NJ — Each year, dozens of Union County students in grades one through 12 join a Union County 4-H club to explore their favorite interests and activities. This year a select group of seven students from Union County qualified to demonstrate their knowledge of cryptology, the U.S. Constitution, and other topics at the statewide 4-H Public Presentation Contest held at Rutgers University in June.
4-H is a long-running national youth development program that originated in efforts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to connect rural youth with up-to-date farming practices and community health information through a nationwide network of county-based extension offices.
In its modern iteration, 4-H clubs offer young people the chance to develop expertise in a wide range of topics while gaining experience in public speaking, organization, team building and other essential skills. Union County 4-H clubs include horticulture, history, archery, Lego robotics, cooking, pet care and much more.
The 4-H schedule runs concurrently with the school year. Each spring the students can provide a formal presentation of their project before a live audience. The prese
nters who earn a score of “Excellent” are invited to participate in the statewide contest each June.
Competing among a statewide field of more than 150 students divided into groups, Adrian Lam of Westfield was awarded the “Best in Room” honor for his speech “Journey to the East.”
The seven Union County contestants in the statewide event were:
Adrian Lam of Westfield, “Journey to the East” Best in Room Award;
Vivek Sreenivasan of Westfield, “Cryptography: The Language of Secrets”;
Kyle Grant of Union, “President Barack Obama’s Morehouse Commencement Speech”;
Jada Peterson of Rahway, how to make chocolate chip brownies;
Isaac Oluwaku of Union, the Bill of Rights;
Ken Adibe of Hillside, music foreshadowing; and
Camille Herbert of Plainfield, gardening.
For more information about Union County 4-H contact James Nichnadowicz at 908-654-9854 or [email protected], or visit ucnj.org/rce.