Members of 4-H clubs from around the Calgary district learned vital skills on Jan. 4 when about 200 participants gathered for a multi-judging event at the Olds Cow Palace.
The members came from clubs as far away as Irricana. They were tasked with ranking sheep, heifers, barley, rabbits, toboggans and other objects against various criteria and then had to explain their decisions to volunteer adult judges who evaluated the 4-H participants on their reasoning. The 4-H participants were broken into junior, intermediate and senior categories based on their age, which ranged from 10 to 18 years old.
ìThey're trying to find the best example in that set class, whether it's livestock or (other categories),î said Dwayne Fulton, one of the adults who volunteered for the event.
Fulton, who is a former 4-H member and parent of a former 4-H member, said the event is a good way to develop critical thinking skills. The adults who evaluated the 4-H participants also ranked the items and Fulton said the adults were looking to see why the 4-H participants ranked the items the way they did.
ìTheir order doesn't necessarily have to agree with our order if they have good reasons why they placed it that way,î Fulton said. ìMulti-judging is good because it teaches members how to evaluate items, to be able to pick which is the best one of the four (in a given set of items) and to give reasons why (they made those choices).î
He said the event also gives the 4-H participants the ability to develop their immediate thinking and speaking skills as opposed to speaking from prepared notes.
Kayla Jones, a member of the West Carstairs 4-H Club, said she evaluated beef heifers, equestrian riding helmets, fleece, toboggans, rabbits and sheep.
ìI learned lots about things I wasn't sure about. I learned how to evaluate better than I did before,î she said.
Jones, 15, is in her sixth year of 4-H and said the event in Olds was a lot different than previous multi-judging events in Olds.
ìWe've never had rabbits before. There's been a ton of different people so there's been a lot of different rules applied,î she said.
Justin Couch, 12, a member of the Jumping Pound 4-H Beef Club in Cochrane, said he enjoyed the event. It was his third time at the event in Olds. He judged beef heifers, sheep, toboggans, fleece and rabbits. His previous two times to the multi-judging event in Olds was as a member of a 4-H club in Balzac.
ìIt's a really great experience to go and judge,î he said, adding organizers added new items to judge this year. ìLast year they didn't have sleds or fleece or grain so they added some new stuff to judge.î
The event in Olds was one of several that are held around the province each year. 4-H members can travel to various events that often have scholarship opportunities attached to them so the participants can use those funds to further their education in the future.
