Missoula Teens take top honors at Montana 4-H Congress

Published: 2022
By Campbell Barrett

With increasing enrollment and a growing 4-H Ambassador program, more Missoula teens are taking advantage of state-level 4-H leadership and competitive events. Seven Missoula teens attended Montana 4-H Congress on the MSU Bozeman campus in July. After several days of interviews and competitions, they returned with the state-winning Gavel Games team, state-winning Video contest participant, and two of the five State 4-H Ambassador offices. Gavel Games is a parliamentary procedure competition where participants use skills in running a business meeting. Each must be prepared to fulfill the duties of the office of President, Vice President, Secretary or Treasurer, as roles are drawn from a hat before the start of the contest. With their Gavel Games win, Gus Turner, Shaun Billingsley, Ammarie Sowers and A.J. Sharkey earned the opportunity to compete at the Western National Roundup in Denver this January. The Video contest allows participants to learn communication skills by preparing and presenting a video up to five minutes in length, as well as answering questions from judges. Autumn Schelvan won the state contest with a video about her Pack Goat 4-H project, earning her a trip to National 4-H Congress in Atlanta in November. Finally, two of Missoula’s 4-H Ambassadors, Ammarie Sowers and Gus Turner, spent three days being interviewed by a selection committee, and both earned State 4-H Ambassador Officer positions. Ammarie is the youth representative to the Montana Extension Advisory Committee, and Gus is a youth representative on the Montana 4-H Foundation Board.