Three local principals jumped at a unique opportunity by participating in the 2nd annual Celebrity Swine Showmanship Contest on Aug. 14 at the Kutztown Fair held at the Kutztown Fairgrounds.
Oley Valley High School Principal Michael Stauffer, Tulpehocken Junior-Senior High School Principal Andy Netznik, and Penn-Bernville Elementary Principal Amanda Cipolla competed in the Berks County 4-H event.
While the celebrities had some experience with animals (Stauffer has chickens at his home and Cipolla worked with horses in her youth), none had worked with swine before.
“I’m a little nervous,” Netznik said as the evening began. “Have you seen the size of the pigs?”
“But when else could we do something like this?” asked Cipolla.
The contest started at 7 p.m., but the principals reported for duty at 5 p.m., meeting the 4-H participants in the swine barn. Each worked with a team of students and learned the basics of swine fitting and showmanship.
Surrounded by aisles of grunting pigs and the scent of hay, the celebrities listened as 4-H-ers explained the basics, such as using pig “motivators” (sticks or prods) to turn and guide the animals, each roughly 7 months old and weighing around 250 pounds. They also learned how to wash the animals.
“There’s just one rule to remember,” one girl explained, only half joking, “Just don’t stand behind the pig. Unless you want to get wet, or worse.”
“Once they took the crash course and learned how to safely handle a pig in the ring,” explained Michele Brown, assistant swine club leader, “they drew from a hat and got assigned a pig [for the contest].”
Then the principals had to put their newly-learned skills to work by preparing each animal for competition.
“The celebrities had to do all the washing themselves, but the kids gave them pointers,” Brown said. “It’s just like our kids in the 4-H competitions.”
Contestants were judged separately in two different categories. For “fitting,” judges look at how well the pig has been cleaned and prepared for the arena. “Showmanship,” on the other hand, is determined by how contestants guide the animals and listen to the judges’ directions.
In the Fitting competition, Stauffer placed first, Netznik was second and Cipolla was third. In Showmanship, the results were Cipolla first, Stauffer second and Netznik third.
This is the second year the Berks County 4-H club has held a celebrity showmanship event. In 2016, local celebrities included radio DJs, newspaper reporters and fair royalty.
“This year, we thought it would be fun to ask principals,” Brown said. “A lot of times these kids show during the course of the year at farm shows and fairs, after the school year starts, and they often need to be dismissed from school for experiences such as this.”
The 2017 celebrity competition gave educators a glimpse of what 4-H students do during these excused absences.
The 4-H students were asked to talk to principals or superintendents to get participants for this August’s event.
“They did a lot of recruiting,” Brown said. “They were excited to be on the other side of the desk and instruct the teachers for a change.”
“It kind of lets them see what the kids are doing and what the value in it is, all the responsibilities and all the learning experiences involved,” she said.
Evan Kamp, a Hamburg Area High School junior, has officially been a 4-H participant since he was 8, but he was helping his brother in competitions before that. The brothers grew up on a family farm in Shoemakersville and 4-H was a good fit for their family.
“I like working with all the animals,” Evan agreed, “and walking the big beef.”
He has worked with swine all his life and recounted stories of staying up all night to assist with births. His favorite age for the piglets is about a week after they are born.
Evan’s father, Chad Kamp, is assistant swine leader for the 4-H group.
“It helps the kids, gives them the responsibility of raising animals. And it emphasizes agriculture in our community,” Chad said, and he agrees with Brown that the competition was an eye-opening experience for the celebrity educators.
“Some of these school principals can see it, a different side to a sporting event they don’t always get to go to,” he said.
4-H students participating in this year’s Celebrity Swine Showmanship Contest were Mark Balthaser; Nicole Wessner; Evan Kamp; Cathleen Miatz; Morgan Kunkel; Zaren, Wyatt, and Marshall Kerper; Sierra and Savannah Brown; and Phoebe Stutzman. Hamburg resident and Berks County 4-H alumni Kelly Dietrich judged the event.
