WALDO COUNTY — For many Maine 4-H members, the first months of each new year are dedicated to preparing their 4-H public speaking presentations. March and April will see them getting up and sharing their interests and know-how at Club, School, County, and State 4-H Public Speaking Tournaments. For them, it’s time to get up in front of family, friends, their club, and community and give their 4-H demonstration or illustrated talk, according to University of Maine Cooperative Extension, in a news release.

Public Speaking is a skill that Maine 4-H members will continue to use beyond their time in 4-H. 4-H alumni who participated in 4-H Public Speaking when they were younger, come back to Maine to communicate that public speaking was the most important 4-H life skill that they learned.

On Saturday, April 25, Maine 4-H held the first ever virtual Maine 4-H Public Speaking Contest. In lieu of the standard in-person event, Maine 4-H members delivered presentations through video conferencing platforms. Waldo County 4-H member, Zoe H. participated in the Waldo County Public Speaking Contest in March and qualified to participate in the state contest. Zoe competed in the state contest in April and earned a blue ribbon for her presentation titled “Pine Cone Owls”.

This was Zoe’s first year participating in 4-H public speaking and she looks forward to continuing to improve her public speaking skills in upcoming years, said the Extension.

For more information about the Waldo County 4-H program contact Sadee Mehuren at 207-342-5971 or sadee.mehuren@maine.edu.

About University of Maine Cooperative Extension: 
As a trusted resource for over 100 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine's land and sea grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county. UMaine Extension helps support, sustain and grow the food-based economy. It is the only entity in our state that touches every aspect of the Maine Food System, where policy, research, production, processing, commerce, nutrition, and food security and safety are integral and interrelated. UMaine Extension also conducts the most successful out-of-school youth educational program in Maine through 4-H. 

About the University of Maine: 

The University of Maine, founded in Orono in 1865, is the state's land grant and sea grant university. As Maine's flagship public university, UMaine has a statewide mission of teaching, research and economic development, and community service. UMaine is among the most comprehensive higher education institutions in the Northeast and attracts students from Maine and 49 other states, and 67 countries. It currently enrolls 11,240 total undergraduate and graduate students who can directly participate in groundbreaking research working with world-class scholars. The University of Maine offers 35 doctoral programs and master's degrees in 85 fields; more than 90 undergraduate majors and academic programs; and one of the oldest and most prestigious honors programs in the U.S. The university promotes environmental stewardship, with substantial efforts campus wide aimed at conserving energy, recycling and adhering to green building standards in new construction. For more information about UMaine, visit umaine.edu.