Dear skillathon  participants and families,

In an effort to clarify expectations for skillathon please read the message below.

We understand that there were concerns with the scoring of project books during the first night of skillathon this year. Some livestock record books have pages with activities based on the member's age or years in the project, while others are the same for all exhibitors. This was an oversight with the change of basing the skillathon on the member’s age instead of their years in the project. Record book completion is still expected and will be used as part of the exhibitor’s skillathon score. We are working on a solution to make the inconsistencies fair and equitable when calculating OME scores. At this time we are considering our options, but will meet with the respective committees and Senior Fair Board in August to determine the procedures utilized to make the scoring equitable for each species.

Consequently, we want to make everyone aware that the skillathon stations this year are not being judged by years in the project and instead this year are being judged by the member’s age. For example, if John is a 3rd year sheep member and is 18 he will be considered a senior because it goes by age. (The years in his project does not matter.) The age divisions are: Junior (8-10 years), Intermediate (11-13 years), and Senior (14+ years). Ages are as of January 1, 2017. This change was made in order to ensure that skillathon and showmanship age levels coincide when calculating the overall Outstanding Market Exhibitor placing. We have also historically seen problems with exhibitors remembering how many years they've taken a project, and hoped this would make registration run more smoothly.

If you have any questions, you may contact us at the office at (330) 264-8722. Thank you for your understanding and your patience as we work out these details.

Sincerely,

Doug Foxx, Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development

Nicole Swavel, 4-H Program Assistant

Stephen Heppe, 4-H Program Assistant