Clarendon County 4-H Jr. WHEP Team is named Grand Champion in state contest

SUBMITTED BY CLEMSON UNIVERSITY COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

The Clarendon County 4-H Jr. WHEP Team was recently named Grand Champion in the 2021 SC State 4-H Jr. WHEP Contest. The team was made up of three participants, Wilson Tisdale (age 9), Blake White (age 12) and Blake Proffit (age 12). WHEP stands for Wildlife Habitat Education Program and is a national 4-H/FFA program that focuses on learning about wildlife habitats and management practices. The three spent six weeks studying both independently and together using Zoom to prepare for the May 8 competition. The competition was divided into two parts. The first part was an online Wildlife Identification Challenge done independently. Wilson Tisdale placed first, Blake White placed third, and Blake Proffit tied for fifth in the state. The second part was a team challenge. The teams were given a written scenario, and they had to present a Wildlife Management Plan based on the information provided about a real property in South Carolina. Normally, the teams would be able to walk around and explore the property they are managing, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, everything was done virtually this year. The information needed for the management plan was obtained from prerecorded videos and aerial maps and photos. The boys created a PowerPoint presentation and presented it virtually to a panel of judges. This is the first time a team from Clarendon County has ever participated in the SC State WHEP Challenge. A senior team and a junior team were preparing for the 2020 WHEP Challenge until it was canceled because of COVID-19. The top senior teams from South Carolina go on to compete in the National WHEP Challenge.