Thousands of Youth for 4-H National Achievement Expo
By: , April 21, 2015The Key Point:
The Facts
- The exposition, which is the culmination of the 14 parish achievement days, and forms part of the movement’s 75th anniversary celebrations, will be held under the theme: ‘4-H Celebrating the Past…Embracing the Future’.
- Speaking to JIS News in a recent interview, Executive Director of the Jamaica 4-H Clubs, Ronald Blake, said the event will showcase the talents and work of young achievers both inside and outside of the 4-H movement in areas such as art and craft, agriculture and home economics.
The Full Story
Thousands of young people are expected to participate in the Jamaica 4-H Clubs’ 2015 National Achievement Exposition, scheduled for April 23-24 at the Denbigh Showground in Clarendon.
The exposition, which is the culmination of the 14 parish achievement days, and forms part of the movement’s 75th anniversary celebrations, will be held under the theme: ‘4-H Celebrating the Past…Embracing the Future’.
Speaking to JIS News in a recent interview, Executive Director of the Jamaica 4-H Clubs, Ronald Blake, said the event will showcase the talents and work of young achievers both inside and outside of the 4-H movement in areas such as art and craft, agriculture and home economics.
“This year, the National Youth Service (NYS) will be a major partner, therefore, any youngster below the age of 32 will have an opportunity to participate,” he noted.
Mr. Blake informed that all college clubs are invited to participate and for the first time, a college clubbite will have the opportunity to win $250,000 towards tuition courtesy of the NYS.
Day one of the event, dubbed ‘Competition Day,’ will be closed to the public, and will see some 448 parish champions vying for 33 national championships in areas such as budding and grafting, public speaking, and boy and girl of the year.
A major feature of day one will be the 75th Anniversary Village, which will showcase senior members of the 4-H movement demonstrating their skills in the traditional practices of the club.
“There is a culture that we want to showcase, so this feature will be a throwback in terms of cooking, craft work, sewing and agriculture,” Mr. Blake explained.
On day two, Minister of Agriculture, Labour and Social Security, Hon. Derrick Kellier, will officially declare the exposition open, at a ceremony slated to get underway at 10:30 a.m.
Her Excellency, the Most Hon. Lady Allen, who is Patron of the Jamaica 4-H Clubs 75th Anniversary Celebrations, along with other dignitaries, are expected to be in attendance.
Over 50 agencies and corporate bodies will mount booths geared towards empowering the youth.
Other features of the exposition include an agri-technology park, an agri-science competition, a healthy lifestyle village, and a gospel concert featuring gospel artistes Kevin Downswell and Jabez.
The event will also be used to launch the Rural Youth Entrepreneurship Economic Programme (RYEEP).
“This is a programme where 3,000 young people will be trained in entrepreneurship over the next three years and at the end of the training, they will be given the input to start their own business,” Mr. Blake informed.
Sponsors of the two-day event include: Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ); Singer Jamaica Limited; COK Sodality Co-op Credit Union; Power 106; Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund, and Friends of the 4-H Island Advice Council.
The Jamaica 4-H Clubs is the youth training branch of the Ministry of Agriculture, and was formed on April 1, 1940 as the juvenile arm of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS).