The 12 contestants were Celise Baird, Luke Baird and Favour Okonkwo, Minot; Aniyah Honrud, Ross; Nolan Lee, Tanner Lee, Thaddeus Lee and Zane Lee, Sawyer; Oliver Goodall, Molly Hamilson and Sophie Vachal, Stanley; and Austin Boleware, Surrey. The contest is divided into three age groups: Senior (ages 13 to 18), Junior (ages 8 to 12) and Cloverbud (ages 5 to 7).

Ribbon Awards:

Cloverbud: Goodall, “The Wonky Donkey,” Participation.

Cloverbud: Thaddeus Lee, “The United States Pledge of Allegiance,” Participation.

Submitted Photo Ward County 4-H member Celise Baird demonstrates how to sign her name C-E-L-I-S-E.

Junior Demonstration: C. Baird, “Sign Language,” Blue.

Junior Illustrated Talk: L. Baird, “Sharks,” Blue.

Senior Illustrated Talk: Boleware, “My Journey with ASD,” Blue.

Junior Electronic Presentation: Okonkwo, “What Really is the Apple Ecosystem,” Grand Champion.

Junior Team Dramatic Presentation: Hamilton, Honrud and Vachal, “Little Red Hen,” Red.

Junior Team Interpretive Reading: Tanner Lee and Z.. Lee, “Frog and Toad: Spring,” Red.

Junior Interpretive Reading: N. Lee, “A Plethora of Poems about Chickens,” Blue.

Junior Interpretive Reading: L. Baird, “Three Stories about Morris and Boris,” Blue.

Junior Interpretive Reading: C. Baird, “If You Give a Pig a Party,” Red.

All 4-H members participating in the Ward and Mountrail County 4-H Communication Arts Contest are eligible to compete in their respective district 4-H Communication Arts Contests. Mountrail 4-H youth can join their Multi-County Programming (MPU) area’s district contest in Williston on May 9, competing alongside Burke, Divide, McKenzie and Williams counties. The Ward County 4-H youth can compete in their MPU area’s district contest in Minot on May 28, with Bottineau, McHenry, Pierce and Renville Counties.

Youth who earn first place at their district contest in each Senior or Junior division, team/individual and subject area qualify to compete at the State 4-H Communication Arts contest held during the North Dakota State Fair. The competition will take place on Sunday, July 20.

The North Dakota 4-H Communication Arts program aims to help participants by:

– Developing communication skills useful throughout their life.

– Practicing gathering and organizing information, equipment, and props for public presentations.

– Gaining experience presenting before a group.

– Building confidence in public speaking.

Two judges, Kerrianne Boetcher and Roza Larson, provided feedback and scored the contestants at the Minot event. The event was organized with the assistance of Ward County Administrative Assistant Shirrell Ott, Mountrail County Administrative Assistant Heather Tomlinson and Mountrail County 4-H Youth Development Agent Lynnette Vachal.