Ben Hill County 4-H captured a first-place win in the National Consumer Decision Making division at the Family and Consumer Science National Championship and Conference on Jan. 17 in San Antonio, Texas.
The winning team members included Thomas Holt, Nandini Patel, Landon Sinyard, and Ruby Witt, with support from coach Laura Lee Hughes, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension 4-H agent and county coordinator for Ben Hill County.
Georgia 4-H teaches essential life skills
In addition to the top award, individual team members also earned honors, with Holt earning second high individual in the contest and Witt placing third high individual.
Ben Hill County qualified for the national contest with their win at the Georgia 4-H State Cotton Boll and Consumer Judging contest in December 2023.
The Cotton Boll and Consumer Judging competition offered through Georgia 4-H teaches participants essential critical thinking and public speaking skills and provides the building blocks of consumer economics knowledge through decision-making scenarios. Ben Hill County judged classes of athletic socks, family games, Bluetooth speakers and cereal, ranking their choices based on the needs of a hypothetical consumer before presenting oral arguments, known as reasons, to defend their decisions.
Ben Hill team achieves multiple awards
The National Consumer Decision Making contest expands on Georgia’s contest, with competitors judging six product classes, providing written reasoning for their choices, and participating in a group thinking exercise. Group thinking requires teams to create solutions for a given consumer situation and present that team decision to a panel of judges.
Ben Hill County brought home numerous individual awards. Patel earned the high individual score in reasons, Witt earned the fifth high individual score in placings and third high individual score in reasons, and Holt earned the fourth high individual score in placings and second high individual score in reasons.
Additional team awards included high overall team placing, high overall team reasons and second-place group thinking team.
Empowering future leaders through Georgia 4-H
“The opportunity to represent Georgia 4-H on the national level allows Ben Hill County 4-H’ers to broaden their perspectives and it sets them on a path to success,” said Hughes, who is a 2021 UGA alumnus with a master’s degree in agricultural and environmental education. “I am so thankful to have a front seat to watch their hard work pay off!”
Ben Hill County 4-H has represented Georgia 4-H three times at the national contest in recent years, with a win as high overall team in 2022.
Georgia 4-H empowers youth to become true leaders by developing necessary life skills, positive relationships, and community awareness. As the premier youth leadership organization in the state, 4-H reaches hundreds of thousands of people annually through UGA Extension offices and 4-H facilities.
For more information about how to get involved with Cotton Boll and Consumer Judging and Georgia 4-H, contact your local UGA Extension office or visit georgia4h.org.
