Lehi People
Lehi sisters beat the buzzer at national 4-H quiz bowl
Lehi siblings, Evie and Lydia Thurgood, represented the state of Utah at the Western National Roundup in Denver, Colorado during the last week of January. The sisters have honed their 4-H skills and knowledge over the years and helped their Utah County team of five to victory in the Family Consumer Science (FCS) Quiz Bowl.
The 4-H program emphasizes learning by doing for the growth and development of youth. 4-H clubs can be run as a family or community club with a focus on livestock and horse projects, leadership, teamwork, and citizenship projects. The goal of the program is to help youth develop into self-directing, contributing, and productive members of society. Evie Thurgood, a senior at Lehi High School, started involvement in 4-H when it was a grant-funded after school program at Willowcreek Middle School. The grant money ran out, but Evie was hooked on the 4-H program, so her mother, Holly Thurgood, found a club for her daughter to join.
“It became addicting. We were around kind, respectful kids who can engage in civil conversations, who know how to lead,” said Evie Thurgood.
“A lot of the information we’re learning, and memorizing are practical things that we’ll use our whole life,” added Lydia Thurgood, a junior at Lehi High School. The book the FCS Quiz Bowl team studied is filled with information about plants and herbs, childhood development, household appliances and their uses, types of carpeting, architectural elements, sewing terms, etc. The Thurgood sisters and their team quizzed each other in hotel lobbies and conference rooms, identifying the weave of the carpet and the type of wood paneling on the walls.
“The competition is just so fun and exhilarating,” said Lydia. The five members of the Utah County team scored the highest on an individual written test on a county level. They won the state quiz bowl and qualified for the national contest, where they also won. “The buzzers are the fun part of the quiz bowl,” added Evie. Each member of the Utah County team had a specialty category in the hefty 4-H FCS manual, but they had to know a little of everything to do well in the bowl.
“I don’t know if I’m going to use any of this information in college, but now I know how I learn and what study strategies work best for me,” said Evie Thurgood.
“I can memorize things faster now – that’s helped me in every other subject in school,” added Lydia.
“The best part is being together and making friends with kids from all over the country,” said Evie.
To celebrate their big FCS Quiz Bowl win, the Thurgood sisters took a nap. In the weeks after the competition, though, Evie and Lydia Thurgood are relishing the memories and looking forward to more 4-H projects in the future.
