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4-H Fair Teaches More Than Just Farm Skills

T.J. Carson
Knox County 4-H participants show goats to audiences that include judges.

Local 4-H clubs can be a way for children to apply skills learned on the farm. The clubs also teach skills children can use in other aspects of their lives.

At this week’s Knox County 4-H Fair, children as young as 8 years old showed off their hard work in raising a variety of farm animals: horses, cattle, chickens, goats, and more. The children competed for ribbons for having the best animal, with some even having the chance to sell their animal afterwards. 

CheyanneDierickx, 16, of Abingdon showed goats. Her career goal is to be an agricultural engineer or a writer, and she said taking care of and raising animals gives her a sense of responsibility.

“It shows me how to keep records and do all those things that I’m going to need to do when I’m older, when I have a job,” Dierickx said. 

Credit T.J. Carson
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T.J. Carson
A girl brushes a steer to prepare it for showing and judging at the Knox County 4-H Fair this week.

4-H Fair participants feel they also develop communication skills.

Gabe Sandal, 17, of Knoxville said the communication skills help him create a bond with the judges.

“Usually I would have to tell the judge what we feed them and take care of them,” Sandal said.

Sandal said being able to talk to new people he comes across at the fair helps him develop the skills. He said he plans to consider a career involving livestock.

Marissa Soper, 15, of Knoxville showed rabbits this year in what was her first 4-H Fair.  She wants to go into a career in nursing and said skills she’s learned tending to rabbits can help her in that field.

“It helps me get used to being able to identify illnesses and things like that. And knowing when I need to help the rabbit,” Soper said.