Tri-County 4-H members earn top honors at Illinois State Fair

Posted September 17, 2014 11:00 pm

University of Illinois Extension

Tri-county 4-H'ers earned 34 Superior Honors and 60 Awards of Excellence at the Illinois State Fair junior exhibit judging in Springfield in August.

Nearly 100 DuPage, Kane and Kendall County youth shared their qualifying 4-H projects with judges on Aug. 9. The Award of Excellence is given to youth whose county project earned them a trip to the Illinois State Fair. At the discretion of the judges, Superior Awards may be given to youth as special recognition for outstanding projects.

During conference judging, they discuss what they did throughout the project year, what they learned and what they may do differently next time. These 4-H project categories range from citizenship to welding, and explore areas of art, science, communication and more.

Superior honors were awarded to the following six DuPage County 4-H'ers in various project categories:

• Margaret Bennett of Elmhurst in 3-D Design/Mixed Media

• Rose Bonarek of Lombard in Visual Arts-Nature

• Alexander Ford in Outdoor Adventures I-III

• Claire Groppe of Westchester in Heritage Arts

• Therese Vining of Westmont in Visual Arts-Fiber

• Marisa Zajac of Warrenville in Leadership Skills III

Superior honors were awarded to the following 15 Kane County 4-H'ers in various project categories:

• Bram Borger-Johnson of Batavia in Promotional Video

• Rory Borger-Johnson of Batavia in Beginning Programming

• Jonathan Cameron of Campton Hills in Tractor I-Starting Up

• Madison Einwich of St. Charles in Fashion Revue

• Ely Greenfeld of Elgin in Woodworking II

• Cassandra Koukol of Elgin in Design Decisions-Advanced

• Bethany Larson of Geneva in Intercultural-Club

• Meghan Linder of Hampshire in Visual Arts-Fiber

• Jack Mueller of Batavia in Advanced Projects

• Kathryn Mueller of Batavia in Theater Arts I-Play the Role

• Emma Passaglia of St. Charles in Intercultural-Indiv

• KZ Plamondon of St. Charles in Visual Arts-Chalk/Carbon/Pigment

• Charlotte Sass of Elgin in Intercultural-Club

• Emily Smeenge of Rolling Meadows in Formal Speech

• Hollyann Stanley of St. Charles in Keeping Fit I-First Aid

Superior honors were awarded to the following 13 Kendall County 4-H'ers in various project categories:

• Phillip Anzelc of Newark in Welding

• Kimberly Batdorf of Yorkville in Photography III

• Patrick Black of Yorkville in Sportsfishing III

• Carter Cumbey of Oswego in Small Engines Display

• Alexis Henz of Oswego in Visual Arts-Chalk/Carbon/Pigment

• Matthew Jorgensen of Newark in Entomology III

• Greta Keller of Oswego in 4-H Cooking 201

• Dayton LeClercq of Oswego in Horticulture Display

• Katelyn Long of Montgomery in Theater Arts II-Become a Puppeteer

• Austin Nakaerts of Plainfield in Woodworking III

• Cydney Olah of Oswego in Citizenship III

• Emily Reppy of Yorkville in Floriculture B

• Livia Way of Plano in Visual Arts-Wood

DuPage County 4-H members earning Award of Excellence recognition include:

• Thomas Bennett of Elmhurst in 4-H Cooking 301

• Rachel Bonarek of Lombard in Visual Arts - Chalk/Carbon/Pigment

• Megan Campbell of Naperville in Citizenship I

• Katherine Carder of Burr Ridge in Computer Science-Newbie Know-How

• Sierra Carder of Burr Ridge in Woodworking II

• Keyla Carey of Wheaton in Metal

• Nicole Feldman of Roselle in Outdoor Adventures I-III

• Sara Groppe of Westchester in Food Preservation

• Daniel Josefchak of Naperville in Intercultural-Club

• Adam Kowalyshen of Naperville in Welding

• Emma Langer of Bartlett in Sewing & Textiles I

• Tara Lyne of Wheaton in Original Works

• Janae Maskell of Warrenville in Sewing & Textiles I

• Carolyn Miner of Warrenville in Wood

• Kai Pavlick of Aurora in Intercultural-Club

• Karsten Pavlick of Aurora in Aerospace Display

• Marina Ptacek of Downers Grove in Sewing & Textiles II

• Elizabeth Richardson of Warrenville in Intercultural-Individual

• Moriah Stefanski of Villa Park in Leadership Skills II

• Michaela Stepniewski of Lombard in Glass/Plastic

• Meghan Stukel of Naperville in 4-H Cooking 401

• Lauren Swartz of West Chicago in Photography I

• Grace Szczurek in Computer-Generated Art

• Stephanie Szczurek in Intercultural-Club

Kane County 4-H members earning Award of Excellence recognition include:

• Abigail DeDina of Hampshire in Sewing & Textiles II

• Kyle DeSmet of Gilberts in Wildlife II

• Jillian Hanacek of Big Rock in 4-H Cooking 201

• Andrew Haviland of Elgin in Elect. I-Magic of Electricity

• Erin Hughes of Maple Park in Photography II

• Anita Jackson of Pingree Grove in Promotional Video

• Madde Klinkey of St. Charles in Original Works

• Madelyn Kramer of St. Charles in Outdoor Adventures I-III

• Octavia Lamore of Elburn in Visual Arts-Paper

• Veronica Lamore of Elburn in Visual Arts-Nature

• Marcos Marquez of St. Charles in Illustrated Speech

• Emma May of St. Charles in Leadership Skills I

• Emily Neuman of Elgin in Visual Arts-Glass/Plastic

• Rebecca Rickert of Elgin in Visual Arts-Chalk/Carbon/Pigment

• Daniel Smeenge of Rolling Meadows in 3-D Design/Mixed Media

• Gabrielle Stephen of Elgin in Leadership Skills I

Kendall County 4-H members earning Award of Excellence recognition include:

• Charlotte Benstine of Oswego in Visual Arts-Paper

• Gracie Benstine of Oswego in Theater Arts III-Set the Stage

• Noah Crane of Sandwich in Welding

• Madeline Cumbey of Oswego in Fashion Revue

• William Davis of Newark in Stop Motion Video

• Alexandria DeNeve of Oswego in Intercultural-Club

• Michaela DeNeve of Oswego in Intercultural-Club

• Ethan Heidrich of Oswego in Promotional Video

• Emma Hill of Minooka in 4-H Cooking 401

• Adelina Jimenez of Montgomery in Visual Arts-Paper

• Millie Johnson of Montgomery in Visual Arts-Chalk/Carbon/Pigment

• Katie Jorgensen of Newark in 4-H Cooking 401

• Elin Keller of Oswego in Intercultural-Club

• Haley Morris of Big Rock in Photography II

• Olivia Morris of Big Rock in Cake Decorating

• Lydia Oker of Sandwich in 4-H Cooking 101

• Sydney Reppy of Yorkville in Leadership Skills I

• Olivia Sanchez of Yorkville in Sewing & Textiles I

• Aimee Snyder of Oswego in Visual Arts-Clay

• Corwin Wyncoop of Plano in Aerospace Display

4-H is part of University of Illinois Extension. It is a community of young people across America learning leadership, citizenship, and life skills. For more information on the 4-H Youth Development program in your area, contact Deanna Roby at roby@illinois.edu or visit web.extension.illinois.edu/dkk/.

Marisa Zajac of Warrenville earned a Superior Award for her Leadership Skills III project at the Illinois State Fair. Zajac, shown here presenting a 4-H at the DuPage County Fair in July, is one of six DuPage County youth to receive the honor. Courtesy of University of Illinois Extension

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