Lt. Gov. Serves as 4-H Judge
Published: Friday, April 24, 2026
At the Elkhart County 4-H Public Speaking and Demonstration Contest last Friday, 12 youths delivered demonstrations and persuasive presentations covering topics from tattooing rabbits to reasons for buying children puppies. The contest was held at the Elkhart County Community Center in Goshen. Students were evaluated by eight judges, including Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith.
In the informative presentations, Matthew Wesco from Wakarusa took first place in the Junior Division, while Chad Renner from Wakarusa won the Senior Division, with Amelia Green from Goshen taking second place and Allison Norris from Elkhart in third place.
From the professional persuasive presentations, Renner won the Senior Division; Charity and Gabrielle Wesco, both from Wakarusa, won the Junior Team Division, while Matthew Wesco won the Junior Division; both Walter Wesco, from Wakarusa, and Emily Ditmars, from Elkhart, received blue ribbons.
For demonstrations, Aliyah Mohler from Elkhart won the Junior Division, showing how to use various simple ingredients to make your own lip balm. In the Junior Team Division, Elliet Long and Addyson Gerig, both from Elkhart won by showing the audience how to make their own pizzas at home. Green demonstrated how to tattoo a rabbit's ear and won the Senior Division, while Matthew Wesco and James Goddard, both from Elkhart, won the Senior Team Division by giving the audience an important lesson on gun safety.
In addition to the lieutenant governor, other judges included: Andy Gall, Jeff Kitson, Michael Christofeno, Lauren Hickok, Paige Lantz, Ashley Ormsby and Tony Ciriello.
Beckwith took a few moments to talk about 4-H and the art of public speaking.
"Public speaking is a really great skill to develop," he said. "You need it in every industry. Everything that you are potentially going to go into must have somebody who can communicate a message."
Beckwith believes there are a few key important things to remember about public speaking, including knowing who your audience is and what content you're trying to communicate. He also believes in being concise with the presentation and being confident in the material.
"If I struggle anywhere, it's probably more in just being concise, so that's always a challenge," he admitted.
The 4-H public speaking contest has been going on since the 1960s, and 4-H volunteer Loretta Sholtey aims to get more kids involved. She thinks the speaking and demonstration contest is great for kids to develop good skills.
"It's such an important skill to have, and part of leadership is being able to speak fluently and confidently," she said.
This contest gives youths another outlet to do that and get good feedback from judges who speak publicly in their everyday jobs. After each contestant gave their speech or demonstration, they took questions from the judges, who challenged their knowledge about the subject they presented. One way that Sholtey is trying to grow the program is by having a workshop before the contest to help kids hone their skills and know what to expect.
"We gave them an example of the different types of speeches and a demonstration and some real life ways they can use public speaking for a career or just in their schoolwork," she said.
While Sholtey hopes to get more kids involved with another workshop scheduled for next March, Elkhart County 4-H is excited to send the winning contestants to the Indiana State Fair to compete against other 4-H'ers across the state.
Beckwith was excited for the public speaking aspect of the contest, as it's a large part of his everyday life.
"I'm a public speaker myself; I speak quite a bit. I preach all over the place, whether it's preaching on Sundays or traveling around the state," he explained.
He believes that 4-H has a large role in society and a positive atmosphere in Indiana.
"I feel like 4-H is healthy around the state," he said. "I do think there's low hanging fruit for potential to boost it.".
In his broader view of the Indiana agriculture industry, Beckwith believes reducing regulations would give farmers an advantage. He explained, "Less regulations and lower taxes. I think those are the two primary things the government really should be hammering at for farmers."
He went on to say that farmers should be able to keep their money, whether they are a large commercial farm or a smaller operation.
As a champion for agriculture, Beckwith said, "I love the big guys, but I love the small guys, too."
He believes artificial intelligence (AI) will play a large role in the future of agriculture.
"I think there's going to be a whole lot of developments with AI and just kind of how all of that begins to impact everything we do in the ag world."
He concluded, "Whether it's crop seeding or drone mapping, there's a whole new birth of an industry that's about ready to happen because of the AI technology boom in the agriculture world."
Return to Top of Page