Category: 4-H

The South Carolina 4-H and FFA Wildlife Habitat Education Program (WHEP) Teams traveled to the National WHEP Competition in Brownwood, Texas, at the end of July.

WHEP is a 4-H and FFA youth natural resource program designed to teach wildlife and fisheries habitat management to junior- and senior-level (ages 8-19) youth in the United States. It also allows participants to test their wildlife knowledge in a friendly competition, as each state supporting WHEP conducts an annual contest, and the winning senior (14-19 years of age) WHEP team from each state earns the right to attend the annual National WHEP Contest.

This year, 16 teams from across the United States competed in the National Contest. Participants had to identify wildlife and write a management plan for the woodlands ecoregion, including species like Northern Bobwhite, white-tailed deer, American widgeons and monarch butterflies.

Our FFA Team from Aynor High School, coached by Mr. Nate Bellamy, clinched a 4th national championship. For the individual portion of the FFA Division, Mason King, Ethan Buffkin, Chase Squires and Levi Dickerson also finished 1st-4th place. Mason King had the highest score of the entire contest (both FFA and 4-H). Our 4-H WHEP Team from Lexington, including Hennelly Gavin, Mya Chapman and Emma McCaffrey, performed exceptionally as well. Hennelly Gavin finished 9th place in the 4-H individual division.

Since 2019, approximately 600 South Carolina youth have participated in WHEP. South Carolina has sent WHEP teams to all the National WHEP Competitions (Kansas, Virtual, Kentucky, Iowa and Texas) and has won a total of 5 National WHEP Championships (four FFA and one 4-H) and two third place finishes (4-H).

Ms. Mallory Maher serves on the National WHEP Committee and helps conduct the annual National Competition. Due to our success on the state and national level, South Carolina will be hosting the National WHEP Competition in 2026. It will be a wonderful opportunity to showcase South Carolina’s natural resources to the rest of the country. 

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Congratulations to the award recipients from the 2022 SC Association of County Agricultural Agents (SCACAA) and SC Association of Extension 4-H Agents (SCAE4-HA) Joint Annual Meeting. The award categories include

• SCACAA Specialty and Service
• SCACAA Communications Awards
• SCAE4-HA Specialty and Service
• SCAE4-HA Communication Awards

SCACAA Specialty and Service

Certificate of Merit

Justin Ballew

Achievement Award (AA)

William J. Hardee III
Amber Starnes

Distinguished Service Award (DSA)

Terasa Lott
Millie Davenport

Search for Excellence in 4-H and Youth Programming

Jenny Mountford

Search for Excellence in Forestry and Natural Resources

Ryan Bean

Search for Excellence in Young, Beginning or Small Farmers/Ranchers

Zack Snipes

Awards Given Outside of the Association

Friend of Extension
Clemson Online (Dr. Lori Kinley, Laura Scott, Chase Sanders, and Rachel Greene)
R. Bryant Sansbury
Blake and Sherri Wisher

Media Award
Robert Stevenson

SCACAA Communications Awards

Bound Book

1. Amy Dabbs
2. Adam Gore

Audio Recording

1. Zack Snipes
2. Paul Thompson
3. Susan Lunt

Computer Generated Presentation

1. Mallory Maher
2. Zack Snipes
3. Teresa Lott

Program Promotional Package

1. Alana West
2. Susan Lunt
3. Ryan Bean

Personal Column

1. Paul Thompson
2. Stephanie Turner
3. Alana West

Published Photo

1. Barbara Smith
2. Teresa Lott
3. Zack Snipes

Newsletter, Individual

1. Jaime Pohlman
2. Nicole Correa

Video Recording

1. Anthony Savereno
2. Zack Snipes
3. Jaime Pohlman

Fact Sheet

1. Susan Lunt
2. Adam Gore
3. Barbara Smith

Website

1. Charly Greenthaler
2. Kim Morganello
3. Nicole Correa

Publication

1. Justin Ballew
2. Kevin Burkett
3. Adam Gore

Feature Story

Alana West

Learning Module

1. Jaime Pohlman
2. Kim Morganello

Poster Session

Applied Research
William Hardee

SCAE4-HA Specialty and Service

Citizenship in 4-H Youth Development

Jenny Mountford

Excellence in Ag Literacy Programming Award

Meghan Barkley / SC Association Team Members: Molly Jones, Dawn Stuckey, Gayle Williford, Glenna Mason, Felicia Cunningham, Shannon Herndon / Additional Team Members: Hillary Pope

Excellence in Healthy Living Programming Award

1. Jessica Simpson
2. Lucy Charping

Excellence in Workforce Development Programming Award

Meghan Barkley

Denise Miller National 4-H Innovator Award

Jenny Mountford

Excellence in 4-H Club Support Award

Jenny Mountford

Jim Kahler Excellence in STEM Award

Lucy Charping / SC Association Team Members: Jessica Simpson, Jenny Mountford, Jaime Pohlman

Educational Technology Award

Jaime Pohlman / SC Association Team Members: Jenny Mountford

Excellence in Natural Resources/Environmental Education Award

1. Mallory Maher  / SC Association Team Members: Rick Willey, Ashley Burns, Jaime Pohlman / Additional Team Members: TJ Savereno, Greg Yarrow, Parker Johnson
2. Jaime Pohlman / SC Association Team Members: Jenny Mountford

Excellence in Animal Science Programming Award

Jenny Mountford / SC Association Team Members: Steve Hucks, Elizabeth Snipes, Dawn Stuckey

SCAE4-HA Service Awards

ASA
Patricia Whitener
Glenna Mason

DSA
Lauren Hood
Steve Hucks

MSA
Janine Sutter

SCAE4-HA Communication Awards

Periodical Publication – Individual

Erika Hwang

Educational Piece – Individual

Lauren Hood

Promotional Piece – Individual

1. Abigail Phillips
2. Meghan Barkley
3. Jenny Mountford

Media Presentation

1. Mallory Maherst
2. Erika Hwang / Team Members: Kathyrn Shaw, Kristine Vernon, Ashley McCarter

Educational Package – Team

1. Jessica Simpson / Team Members: Jenny Mountford, Jaime Pohlman, Lucy Charping
2. Erika Hwang / Team Members: Ashley McCarter

Published Photo

1. Jenny Mountford
2. Jessica Simpson
3. Mallory Maher

Feature Story

Janine Sutter

Social Media Package/Campaign – Individual

Mallory Maher

Social Media Piece – Individual

Jaime Pohlman

Video Program

Janine Sutter

Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.

Mars Madness Continues…
This past year has been quite an adventure with South Carolina 4-H’s Journey to Mars and National 4-H’s Mars Base Camp. This summer, we watched the Mars Perseverance Rover take off from the same launchpad that sent Apollo 11 to the moon. The rover was aptly named by students in Virginia that submitted their ideas into a NASA contest — One more example, among many, of the power of youth voice!

Journey to Mars explored the relative distances between the two planets and their orbits. Since Mars and Earth only get close to each other roughly every two years, timing is everything. The pandemic only increased the pressure and motivation to meet the anticipated launch window. Perseverance hurdled through space at an amazing speed of 24,600 miles per hour for over seven months to reach its destination. South Carolina 4-H spent that time training educators and sharing resources for Mars Base Camp and Journey to Mars programs. A watch party for the anticipated landing, called Mars Landing Couch Conversation, was scheduled for Thursday, February 18th at 2 PM EST in the South Carolina 4-H STEM Facebook Group.

Leading up to the event, at-home activities were shared from Journey to Mars and Scratch, as well as current happenings like an interview with a NASA mathematician to celebrate Black History Month and a one-day-only special by Krispy Kreme – Mars Doughnut, to promote engagement. Participants watched NASA’s live-stream video coverage, asked questions, and followed along with South Carolina 4-H during the watch party; there were 73 comments and 16 shares during the social media coverage. Even though NASA and its partners have had great success lately, the historical success rate of missions to Mars is 50%. Perseverance is the biggest, heaviest, and most complex instrument ever attempted to land on Mars. The landing site of the Jezero Crater is the most hazardous location ever attempted.

Needless to say, there were a lot of relieved people celebrating after the successful landing. The public is now starting to notice hidden messages related to Perseverance. For instance, the parachute used during the landing had a pattern of binary code with GPS coordinates for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and a quote from Teddy Roosevelt, “Dare Mighty Things”. Coincidentally, both Journey to Mars and the South Carolina 4-H newsletter featured binary coding activities. If you would like to explore binary coding, follow this link to a simple activity: https://clemson.box.com/s/wc2gk3o4jsbqisub4qkth2nc28i9283w

South Carolina 4-H looks forward to more space-related adventures in the future!!!

Submitted by: Dr. Ashley Burns, 4-H Assistant Director

Greenville County 4-H had their first meeting of the 4-H Forest Explorers Zoom Club. Twenty youth (ages 5-9) will meet via Zoom every Tuesday at 10 a.m. to explore the Clemson Experimental Forest with Patricia Whitener and Jaime Pohlman. Patricia streams live from the forest and Jaime manages the Zoom room and the technology side of things. The youth participants get to help direct Patricia while seeing what she sees and where she goes. Each meeting will highlight an aspect of education, research, management, recreation, and careers associated with forestry and natural resources.

The club will meet weekly and follow the seasonal changes in the Experimental Forest while learning about geology, entomology, botany, ecosystems, food webs, animals, habitats (aquatic and terrestrial), and forestry practices.

“We loved your lesson and followed up today with a nature hike and stopped in a clearing between two forests, and you would have been SO PROUD!!! I asked the children, what kind of habitat are we in right now? Do you remember what Mrs. Patricia called it? Emerson shot his hand up and said, “Successional habitat.” I about fainted! See, you are making a difference, and they are GETTING IT!! We have new nature journals to practice observations with and did that today as well. ”
Penny D. Singer
Lower Elementary Teacher
Montessori School of Mauldin

Submitted by: Patricia Whitener, Greenville County 4-H Agent

The Child Care Expansion Project is a partnership between Nonprofit Alliance and Greenville County Schools. They are distributing CARES act funding to community partners (like 4-H) to provide enrichment programs to these childcare sites that are stepping up to fill the gap in childcare for kids not in school during alternate schedule days. Every Monday afternoon for ten weeks, Greenville County 4-H Agent, Patricia Whitener, meets with each Child Care Expansion Site for an hour via zoom to engage youth through the STEM lessons from Journey to Mars (state 4-H program) and Mars Base Camp (national 4-H program). All materials were provided in kits for each child and delivered to Foundations Early Learning (K-2), Goddard School (3rd-5th grade), and Potential Afterschool Center (4th and 5th graders). 4-H is reaching kids through innovative, hands-on virtual learning and supporting our community partners in providing safe, healthy learning environments and childcare activities for hard-working families across Greenville county.

Feedback from the first session:
“Good Evening, Our teachers were very impressed with your presentation and how smoothly everything went – thank you so much for the opportunity to participate.”
Marisa Flemming, Center Director

“Yesterday was wonderful!! The children really enjoyed the lesson and kept asking me all afternoon when the next one was :)”
Tina Bright, Curriculum Coordinator

Submitted by: Patricia Whitener, Greenville County 4-H Agent

While summer camps and programs were being canceled across the state, Extension Agents from ten counties in the Pee Dee Region teamed up this summer to offer families an at-home 4-H camp experience. The counties included

• Chesterfield (Amber Starnes)
• Clarendon (Mary Margaret McCaskill)
• Darlington (Kyla Szemplinski)
• Dillon/Marlboro (Elizabeth Snipes)
• Florence (Faith Truesdale), Lee (Cindy Welsh)
• Marion (Freddricka Pressley), Sumter (Terri Sumpter)
• Williamsburg (Carly Smith)

Each camp kit focused on a 4-H project area and offered over ten hands-on activities at a cost of only $15 per kit. One hundred and forty total kits were released to local families throughout June and July. The camp kits were designed for ages 5-12 and included

• The Great Outdoors (natural resources)
• Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead (STEM and Art)
• Down on the Farm (Ag and Animals)
• Camp Cloverbud (A literacy-based camp that highlighted all project areas including leadership, citizenship, healthy lifestyles, natural resources, agriculture, livestock, and STEM.)

Of the results from the parent survey

• 100% of respondents indicated ‘strongly agree’ that the kits they purchased were a good value
• 100% of respondents indicated ‘definitely yes’ that the 4-H Camp Kits gave their child/children a hands-on, educational experience during an unprecedented time
• 93% of respondents indicated ‘extremely likely’ that they would purchase kits again
• 68% of respondents indicated that the camp kit activities challenged their child/children

Parent quotes included

“I was very impressed with everything provided within the kits. It gave us more time to enjoy them by not having to make sure we had all of the necessary supplies and took the thought process out of the prep work. Thank you!”

“I thought that this was GREAT! I was impressed with the organization and quality of the kits. It was wonderful that everything was provided and made it convenient and fun for our family to do the activities! Thank you so much for offering these kits. We would be interested in doing them anytime in the future!”

Submitted by: Faith Truesdale, Florence County 4-H Agent

 

The Pinckney Leadership program has been busy despite COVID-19. Since March, the program has begun three different programs to address the needs of our youth. We are making sure that youth leaders have the tools and resources they need to adjust to the “new normal”.

Fresh Fridays
The “Fresh Fridays” were a time that the program dedicated to motivate each other through this crisis, hear from amazing adult leaders, and most importantly, create a fun environment where everyone can continue to grow as leaders! Over the course of seven weeks, seventy-four youth leaders from twenty-four counties were represented during these virtual gatherings.

“I really appreciated having another space to go to, also in a way it was kind of like an event for me to get ready for and go to, thus helping me keep a structure to my life during these times.” – Youth Participant
“This is my first time being a part of the 4-H program, and I really enjoyed being a part of the Fresh Fridays!!!”- Youth Participant

Virtual Leadership Roundup
The SC 4-H Pinckney Leadership Conference hosted its first virtual Leadership Roundups this summer, aimed at providing a platform for students nationwide to gather and learn how they could continue to lead amidst the current challenges the country faces.

Mentor Groups
Although COVID-19 has changed a lot of the original summer plans, it also made the team aware of an untapped resource that they had right in front of them…technology! Due to the success of the “Fresh Friday” and the Virtual Leadership Roundup programs, they have recently started mentor groups within the program. These groups will give 4-H Pinckney Leaders the opportunity to learn and grow from other youth leaders, while also getting the opportunity to be mentored by adult leaders in the career field they may be interested in.

Submitted by: Rushawnda Olden, 4-H Pinckney Leadership Program Director

The Upstate Fishing Project launched in May with the intention of hosting in-person fishing days across the state this summer. As we all know, COVID-19 has kept us from being able to interact with our fifty-eight project members in person, but that has not stopped it from being a very successful project. Participants are receiving emails and videos from Mark Cathcart, Carol Hamilton, and Jeff Fellers teaching important angling skills in various bodies of water around South Carolina. Most recently Mark, Carol, and Meghan Barkley demonstrated some of the various saltwater fishing techniques in Beaufort County. The videos have given the team the opportunity to engage youth in the project virtually, and the kids love it. They frequently send in pictures of their various catches to be featured in the fishing email. At the end of this project season, they will be collecting fishing logs and record books and rewarding the best 4-H Anglers in the project! Check out their fishing videos on the Spartanburg and Union County 4-H pages.

Submitted by: Carol Hamilton, Spartanburg County 4-H Youth Development Agent

The South Carolina 4-H Congress is held annually at Clemson University. This event brings youth together from across the state to learn, network, and celebrate a year of achievement. Due to COVID-19, Congress was moved to a virtual setting using Zoom, daily emails, and social media. This event was hosted by the South Carolina 4-H State Teen Council. Over one hundred attendees participated in daily activities such as a virtual career fair, community service projects, professional development workshops, awards ceremonies, and fun networking games.

During the awards state ceremony, the following youth were recognized for their outstanding achievement in 4-H:

2020 State 4-H Winners
Carson Marino – Chester County
Langley Vernon – Anderson County
Aliza Allison – Lexington County
Brianna Smalls – Dorchester County
Maggie Thomas – Dorchester County
Allyson Wright – Hampton County

2020 National 4-H Conference Winners
Katie McCarter – York County
Langley Vernon – Anderson County
Maggie Thomas – Dorchester County
Brianna Smalls – Dorchester County

2020 Presidential Tray Winners
Arizona Bowers – Anderson County
Marie Elizabeth Grant – Anderson County
Jordan Snipes – Florence County
Hailey Williamson – Lexington County

2020 Spirit of 4-H
Nick Matthews – Florence County

Another important part of Congress was the 2020-2021 South Carolina 4-H State Teen Council election. Candidates gave live speeches, and an online election was held.

 2020-2021 SC 4-H Teen Council
President: Cassidy Hurst – Pickens County
Vice President: Brianna Smalls – Dorchester County
Secretary: Saanvi Merchant – Greenville County
Legislative Liaison: Paul Davis – Richland County
Public Relations Coordinator: Jeremiah Gonzalez – Chester County
Midlands Regional Representative: Carson Marino – Chester County
Midlands Regional Representative: Katie McCarter – York County
Pee Dee Regional Representative: Bryton Tanner – Florence County
Savannah Valley Regional Representative: Katherine Ryan – Hampton County
Savannah Valley Regional Representative: Maggie Thomas – Dorchester County
Upstate Regional Representative: Chloe Margeson – Greenville County
Upstate Regional Representative: Elizabeth Marie Grant (MEG) – Anderson County

Even though Congress was fun on a virtual platform, the team is looking forward to being back on campus next summer. If you would like more information about SC 4-H Congress or other 4-H events, please visit www.clemson.edu/4h.

Submitted by: Katie Shaw, 4-H Youth Development Specialist