As school has ended in Kiowa county and the surrounding areas, we find summer activities start to ramp up. 

During the months of April and May, the Kiowa County 4-H youth were selecting livestock to raise and show at the Kiowa County Fair. Which will run from September 9^th-13^th. Tuesday, June 3^rd those 4-H members along with FFA gathered for Small Animal Weigh In. The results from weigh in were, 15 sheep tagged and an average of 57.46 pounds, 44 goats tagged with an average of 39.59 pounds, and finishing up with swine with a total of 13 tagged. In February there were 12 head of beef averaging 606.75 pounds weighed in. 

Kiowa County 4-H Council Senators, Katherine and Haliee Trosper will be attending 4-H State Conference held at the Colorado State University Campus in Ft Collins from June 16^th-19th. They will represent Kiowa County and District VI 4-H at the state meetings and elections. Also attending will be Clayton Nelson who has been part of the State 4-H Officer team holding the position of treasure for the 2024/2025 year. He has assisted the team in planning camps, leadership conferences, and the 4-H State Conference. During the elections Clayton is taking a big step in furthering his 4-H involvement by throwing his hat in the ring for State President. He will be 1 of the 7 Presidential nominees from around the state. 

Clayton along with District VI 4-H members took part in Xpedetion trip to Wyoming in May. They visited Jackson’s Hole, Yellowstone Park, Thermopolis Hot Springs, and many other sites. Thank you to Lacey Taylor, Cheyenne County Extension Specialist, Vicki Nestor, Office Administrator, and Tiana Garica Baca County Extension Specialist for organizing and chaperoning these 4-H members on a great trip with new sites and experiences. 

June has started off busy for 4-H members. Kiowa county 4-H and 6 surrounding counties make up a District known as District VI 4-H. These counties come together to have meetings, camps, and competitions. June 14^th will kick off the first of these events with the District VI Horse show, Creative cooks, Cake decorating, Speech Arts, and business and election meeting held in Las Animas. Next is the District VI Shooting sports contest held in La Junta on June 21^st, 4-H members will compete in archery, 22 rifle and pistol, trap and skeet shooting. 

The Kiowa County Library District will be kicking off another year of their Summer Reading program to help promote the importance of reading to the county youth. We are excited that the CSU Kiowa County Extension office gets to continuously be a part of this youth development activity. This is open to all youth from Pre-K to Grade 6. The dates for this will be Wednesday, June 25, July 2^nd, 9^th, and 16^th. Please contact the library for registration https://kiowacounty.colibraries.org/summer-reading-2025/.

We have also gained another partner Mackenzie King who works with the Young Americans Center, she will be hosting a Youth Biz Budgeting Workshop for any students in middle and high school. Please RSVP to Mackenize King at 303-321-5085 or email mking@yacenter.org.