County 4-Hers continue summer activities

By Sam Waller

Shackelford County 4-H elected to scrap the first session of its STEM camps this week, but Shackelford County extension agent Kelsey Bell said two other sessions are still scheduled.

Bell said low registration and staffing issues led to the decision to cancel this week’s session, which was to be held Tuesday, July 12.

“Kelli Kreitler was going to be running that on her own, and we did not have anyone signed up a week before, so I told Kelli to scratch it,” Bell said. “Of course, once I told her that, then I had three or four try to sign up, but she had already re-obligated herself elsewhere.”

Bell said the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) camps offer multiple hands-on learning experiences.

Camps are scheduled from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on the last two Tuesdays of July – July 19 and 26 – at The Feed Store.

“We do have kids signed up for those,” Bell said.

Bell said she hopes to make STEM camps a regular summer activity, though they may have to move to a different time slot to avoid competition from other events.

“This was a throw-it-out-there-and-see-what-happens decision, kind of an experiment,” she said. "I’d love to do a camp for one week or three days in a row, but the logistics of that make it difficult, so we decided to space it out. We’ll definitely be reevaluating what works best for next year, hopefully giving the kids something to do and working with everybody’s schedules."

Art Club

Shackelford County 4-H Art Club will continue weekly meetings at 1:00 p.m. Thursdays through Aug. 4.

Bell said attendance has remained strong, averaging about 25 for the program throughout the summer.

This week’s meeting will have sessions for watercolors and sewing.

Record Books

Four Shackelford County 4-Hers placed in the District 7 Record Book contest, which was judged Tuesday, July 12 in San Angelo.

Rainy Nitschke placed second in Junior Goat, while Cody Fry placed third in Junior Sheep. Faith Fry also took third place in Senior Sheep, with Grace Fry placing seventh in Intermediate Sheep.

Banquet Time

Shackelford County 4-H will hold the end-of-year Awards Banquet at 6:00 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14, at the Whitney Theatre.

Hunter Safety

Plans are being discussed for a Hunter Safety Education Course for early August.

“Aaron Hinshaw, our shotgun coach, is organizing that and is coordinating with a teacher for that,” Bell said. “We still haven’t pinned down a date, but it’s going to be in the first week or two of August.”