DIVISION XIII: SKILL-A-THON AND OUTSTANDING EXHIBITOR PROGRAM (OEP)

Consultant - Nikki Heintzelman, Amy Heming, Holly Jennings

 

Skill-a-thon:     11 a.m. to 4 p.m. the Sunday prior to the Fair in the 4-H Hall

Awards:           5 p.m. Thursday           

Location:         Holman Livestock Complex 

 

About OEP

The Outstanding Exhibitor Program (OEP)  is designed to incorporate several educational aspects of livestock production into one competition and recognize those youth who excel in the following areas; with equal weight from each area, (you must participate in all three to be part of the OEP):

1. Live animal placing (Equitation/Horsemanship for horses and Obedience for dogs) 

2. Showmanship placing (with your animal)

3. Skill-a-thon placing 

 

The Skill-a-thon will be conducted on a digital device at the fairgrounds for the following species. Sign up for a time to participate the week before the event via social media. Project books will be graded the day of the Skillathon and be counted towards part of your Skill-a-thon score..  

1. Market Hogs

2. Meat Goats (Market and Breeding)

3. Sheep (Breeding and Market)

4. Beef (Steers, Heifers and Feeder Calves)

5. Poultry 

6. Equine 

7. Dairy Goats

8. Dairy Cattle

9. Rabbits (Market and Breeding)

10. Pygmy Goats

11. Fiber Goats

12. Fiber Sheep

13. Alpacas

 

General Rules

1. All Junior Fair exhibitors may participate in the skill-a-thon held Sunday prior to the fair. 

2. There will be three age divisions: Beginner (ages 8 to 12), intermediate (13 to 15), and senior (age 16 to 18).  **Exception-  FIber goats, fiber sheep, and alpacas will have only one division without age breaks.

1. Live animal placing: An exhibitor will receive points for their highest placing animal in each respective species. Only one animal per exhibitor per species may be counted in the total score.

2. Showmanship placing: An exhibitor will receive points according to their  showmanship placing. The exhibitors’ own animal must be used for showmanship. 

3. Skill-a-thon placing: A skill-a-thon is an educational event designed to test the exhibitor’s knowledge of each respective species, which will be conducted Sunday prior to the fair. These topics may include, but are not limited to: Breeds, feeds, equipment, meat cut ID, body parts, quality assurance, etc. Resources for this event are, but not limited to, the Learning Laboratory Kits and the 4-H Resource Handbooks for each species. .

1. One component  of the skill-a-thon will be judging of the exhibitor’s CURRENT project and record book (4-H or FFA). Judging will be based on the pages that should be completed up to the day of the skill-a-thon; the book does not have to be completely finished. However, certain pages will be selected to be scored for this component and will not be announced prior to the event. An entry is considered complete when an entire line is complete on the page (date, amount, kind, cost, etc.) The exhibitor must indicate clearly if that page did not apply to their project. If they do not bring a CURRENT project and record book, for any reason, they will receive a zero for this component. Make sure to include expenses for your project – it costs someone money to raise the project even if it is not an exhibitor. The goal of this component  is to encourage record keeping and understanding of the financial aspects of the project.

1. All winners will be awarded at 5 p.m. Thursday in the Holman Livestock Complex. The top five in each age division also will be announced at this time. Unclaimed awards will be available for pick-up in the Junior Fair Board Office after the announcement.

2. Ties will be broken in the following order: (1) overall placement  awarded from the skill-a-thon; (2) overall score of the skill-a-thon; (3)the test component  of the skill-a-thon; (4) the project book component of the skill-a-thon.

3. Points will be determined according to their placing in each of the three categories. The lowest combined points for all three categories will determine winners. For example:

            1st place=1 point

            2nd place=2 points

            3rd place=3 points

            4th place= 4 points

            5th place= 5 points

            6th place and lower will all receive 6 points

1. Skill-a-thon participants may NOT compete in Skill-a-thons for species you are not exhibiting in the current year.

2. An exhibitor that is disqualified for any reason also will be disqualified from Skill-a-thon and  OEP for the same length of time.

3. The committee reserves the right to adjust rules to fit the needs of a successful and fair program.

4.  Awards will be given according to the sponsorship money available. However, ribbons will be distributed to the top five placings of each age division in both the skill-a-thon and the OEP.