Imperial resident wins gold for third time at State 4-H Field Day competition
A click of a mouse, a love for fishing and a fearlessness in public speaking helped Imperial resident Steve Johnson II add more gold pins to his crowded 4-H hat at the State 4-H Field Day at the University of California Davis.
Out of the 700 to 800 participants present at the Memorial Day weekend event, Johnson competed against about 60 of California’s top public speakers utilizing his PowerPoint presentation on fishing in the intermediate audio-visual category.
This marks his third year of winning a gold medal in a state competition where the 4-H students are only allowed to compete in one presentation or judging event per year, said local Star Route 4-H Club community leader Mary Ann Smith.
“The PowerPoint one is the easiest to travel with but the hardest to do,” Smith said.
“Audio-visual is basically a production. You can’t have any other props, no pointers, no anything,” she said. “If you click through it … should stand alone.”
Steve said even though he qualified for state in his first regional competition he didn’t go to the state competition that year “because I didn’t know what it was” four years ago.
Since then the 12-year-old has taken home gold in an illustrated presentation on rocketry and an illustrated presentation on fishing in the previous two state competitions.
“So far that makes me feel really good,” he said. “I just feel accomplished as a public speaker. Now I know what I’m doing.”
“It was really, really competitive,” his father, Steve Johnson I, said.
“There were a lot of kids with a lot of presentations and at this level he had to really come through and shine, and he did,” Johnson said.
“I think I’ve achieved quite a lot for being only 12 years old,” Steve said.
And he plans to go back to state next year, his last in the intermediate category.
“I’m starting to think again about what I’m going to do next year,” he said.
“Hopefully I do make it again,” Steve said.
Staff Writer Roman Flores can be reached at 760-337-3439 or rflores@ivpressonline.com