Texas 4-H round up in College Station

By MINDY POEHL | Central Texas Edition

Scholarship donors line the stage at the Scholarship Assembly at 4-H Roundup in College Station. Many students from 12 districts were awarded over one million dollars in scholarship money. -- Photo by Mindy Poehl

June 17, 2004 -- Texas 4-H 14-to-19-year-olds got to put all of their hard work, gained over the years, to use last week at Texas 4-H Roundup. All week long, from June 7-11, 4-H kids swarmed Texas A&M University in College Station competing in many different events.

With around 2,500 contestants and 1,500 parents attending Roundup, the students competed in 38 competitions, ranging from public speaking to companion animals, from entomology identification to clothing and textiles and from livestock to mohair evaluation.

Roundup is an annual 4-H event with contestants competing at the state level. To qualify, participants must have won at county and district competitions.

"Participants must have placed first or second at district to come to the contest," Jeff Howard, associate state program leader, said. "And, we have 12 districts competing at state."

Of the 12 districts attending Roundup, approximately 214 out of the 254 counties in Texas attended Roundup.

"It's a great opportunity for the kids to compete. The first and second place winners at Roundup go on to compete in the nationals," explained Toby Lepley, Extension 4-H youth development specialist. "The top four in the livestock division go to National Western in Denver, which is the largest livestock show in the world. It is known as 'the Super Bowl of cattle shows.'"

The winners of the events can also win scholarship money or "really nice promotional items that are all donated," said Lepley. "The scholarships are based consistently across the board."

In addition to the competitions, a new category, in which the participants build a home for Habitat for Humanity, was added.

"The whole state has adopted the program and the kids will build a house in Bryan," Lepley said. "It's great because the kids get to give back to the community."

Toby Lepley, left, and Jeff Howard helped sign up over 4,500 people into 4-H Roundup activities. -- Photo by Mindy Poehl

On Wednesday and Thursday, four teams of 20 youths and five adults were chosen to work on building a new home for a low-income family.

The Scholarship Assembly took place on Tuesday. Over one million dollars was awarded in scholarships and $200,000 of it went towards high school seniors who will attend college in Texas.

"Scholarships are awarded in seven different areas, like agriculture, biomedical, technical colleges, family and consumer sciences (fcs)," Lepley said.

The 4-H'ers were chaperoned by Extension agents, parents and volunteers. Spirit rallies and dances were held at night and most of the students slept in dorm rooms at A&M and ate on campus.

"It lets them experience the college life," Lepley explained.

Lepley believes the most popular events at Roundup are the general assemblies "because kids get to see other kids recognized. The top three in each division get to walk across the stage, and it's a big deal to walk across that stage."

Country World will provide a full listing of Roundup winners as soon as they are available.