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Uvalde County 4-H mentors impact community, legacy

Melissa Federspill
Staff Writer

Melissa Federspill|Leader-News
Uvalde County 4-Hers of all ages receive tips and how-to-guidance from teen leaders Knippa junior Kayleigh Griffin (far left) and Uvalde Classical Academy junior Peyton Phillips during a sheep showing workshop held at the home of Jody and Laura Griffin. Students who attended include (from left to right) Knippa third-graders Victoria Newberry-Cabrera and Joaquin Bueno; Knippa sixth-grader Carter Casey; Knippa freshman Jasmin Casey; Uvalde Dual Language Academy fifth-grader Hannah Hughes; Morales Junior High seventh-grader Owen Hughes; and Uvalde High School freshman Wyatt Hughes.

Beyond all that students learn from raising an animal for the Uvalde County 4-H program, or the practice that goes into sportsmanship training, there’s a bonus skill being taught: the importance of helping others.

When Knippa junior Kayleigh Griffin started out in 4-H eight-years ago as a third-grader showing sheep, she had the support of her family. 

But she also had the support of an older student, Jake, and his family, that she said, “really got us started” in the program.

“I used to call him my big brother,” Griffin said. 

“He would help me out all the time and would come over to our house every once and while… He was my real mentor,” Griffin said, adding she also had support from a family in New Braunfels, where the Griffins are originally from. Now as an older student, she has embraced being a mentor herself, and says she enjoys showing the younger students all that 4-H has to offer. 

“We try to do so much as a 4-H community to bring in the younger ones, to show how much we do, and how much you can get involved in the community, and the opportunities that are available to you,” Griffin, who is the daughter of Laura and Jody Griffin of Uvalde, said.

The Uvalde County 4-H program includes a variety of extra-curricular activities, from food and nutrition programs, to photography, raising animals, shooting and archery sports, and community service projects, such as cleaning parks, helping out at the animal shelter, or hosting food drives.

Griffin is one of many students who dedicates her time to helping the younger 4-H students, and she often holds workshops at her house on the weekends. She does this, she says, because of the impact 4-H has had on her life, and because she loves seeing the younger students succeed.

“Starting out with all of this I wanted to see so much growth… Doing something that I love with showing sheep and being able to share that with these young showers, thats a special moment for me,” Griffin said.

On a recent Sunday in December, Griffin and her family along with fellow senior 4-Hers, hosted a sheep-showing workshop in a makeshift show ring for a group of younger students. 

The young students practiced handling their sheep, moving them around the ring, while the older students gave them pointers on what the judges look for and tips for getting the sheep to stand squared-up.

“They have practiced so hard and it really shows how much they have worked,” Griffin said. “That’s what I love so much about it.

“They just work so hard, they want to accomplish as much as they can, and for them to look up to me, and me be able to mentor them, it’s a special feeling.” 

Because of her experiences, Griffin says she wants to continue an agricultural route in college. 

Jae Thompson
Knippa junior Kennedy Thompson grooms her goat before entering the show ring at the Austin Livestock show.

Her dedication to mentoring younger students is shared by her peer, Knippa junior Kennedy Thompson. 

Thompson started out in the novice program showing horses, lambs and goats. During her time as an up-and-coming 4-Her, she said she said there was a group of older students that showed her the ropes.

“When I was brought into 4-H, I always had a really good group of older kids that would tell me what I needed to do…teach me how to do everything,” Thompson said.

“From then on, I have kind of taken over since they’ve left, because now we’re the older kids,” she said, noting she teaches the younger students things such as how to wash and shear their animals in advance of livestock shows through an annual wash-and-shear day.

“I’ve been doing the wash-and-shear day for about four years, minus last year because of COVID,” Thompson said. 

She said she was inspired to hold the workshops after seeing students struggle with their animals.

“I’ll go to stock shows and I’ll see kids that have no idea how to get their animals ready. They’re not doing it right. That’s how I came up with the wash-and-shear day – teach them how to do it, give them supplies so they don’t have to go out and buy everything,” Thompson said.

About 15 families most with multiple children in 4-H attended her last workshop.

“Blowers and tables and stuff, those are expensive. So if they can just use ours – and we help them and teach them what to do, then they can do it [on their own] in the future,” Thompson said, noting that she learned how to wash and shear from her mom, Jae, as well as her mentors.

“So it’s a continuous cycle,” she said, adding she’s noticing some other students step into mentoring roles.

“I have a few that are kind of in the middle, and they are starting to take to the younger kids like we did,” Thompson said.

Along with holding her wash-and-shear day, Thompson, through her leadership positions, also does officer trainings. 

She also is a participant in the livestock judging contest as part of the Uvalde County Junior Livestock Show. 

She says participating in that program has helped her in her mentorship, especially when it comes to teaching what to feed. 

“A lot of kids don’t know how to feed, so we can try to help with that,” Thompson said.

Kasey Schlessiger
Uvalde High School freshman Ava Schlessiger stands with one of her goat entries during a round of livestock judging. Schlessiger has been involved in Uvalde County 4-H since she was in the third grade and now mentors younger students as they enter the program.

Teaching what to feed goats is also a part of the workshops that Uvalde High School student Ava Schlessiger participates in. 

Schlessiger has been in the 4-H program since third grade, and though she started out showing lambs, goats and swine, she currently shows only goats. She recently helped host a workshop at the residence of fellow Uvalde County 4-H leaders Kristen and George Dreyer. Schlessiger said their daughter, Morgan Dreyer, has been one of her biggest mentors. 

Now as a freshman, she is helping the younger students.

“We taught them the basics of how to take care of their animal and how to show their animal,” she said of her goat workshop, adding they also practiced being in the show ring. 

The Schlessiger family moved to Uvalde in 2012, and Ava’s mother, Kasey, says she grew up around 4-H but did not show any animals. 

Her husband, did however. “He has an idea. I’ve not been help at all,” Kasey laughed.

She said being in 4-H has been a learning experience for the whole family, and agreed that having the support system of mentorship has been helpful.

Ava says she plans to continue to share the spirit of mentoring as she grows older and says she’s into 4-H for the long term.

“I want my kids to show,”she said.