Youth sparks are an essential ingredient of thriving in the 4-H world. Having a spark gives a young person a sense of direction and encourages goal setting. Nineteen Shawano 4-H members exhibited their sparks around food preparation and presentation at the 2022 Foods Revue, held May 14 at the Richmond Town Hall. Youth exhibited a prepared food with a completed place setting for critique from local judges.

A new trail was completed and opened at the Navarino Nature Center on May 19. With Shawano Pathways, ThedaCare and other community partners, the nature center opened a GRACE trail for visitors to walk and reflect on the things that are most important to them. GRACE stands for Grateful, Release, Acceptance, Challenge and Embrace. Along the mile-long trail, there are five checkpoints, each representing one letter of the word GRACE.

The College of Menominee Nation will be holding its 2022 commencement at 10 a.m. May 21 at the Menominee Casino Resort Conference Center, N277 State Highway 47-55, Keshena, in the Five Clans Ballroom. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. The commencement speaker is Jennifer Gauthier, an enrolled member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. She serves as community development educator at the UW-Madison Division of Extension on the CMN campus.

Nu Chapter held its May meeting at Shawano Area Matthew 25 in Shawano. Chris Ciucci, the resource center manager, explained the nonprofit’s goals and services. SAM25 helps those affected by poverty improve their circumstances to become self-sufficient. SAM25 strives to make sure everyone in the Shawano area has a meal and a safe place to sleep every night and has access to medical care they can afford.

The Gillett FFA had a very successful 2022 FFA Banquet. We were able to honor many members on their achievements and involvements through the 2021-2022 school year. The banquet began with guest speaker Amara Livingson, the 2021-2022 state FFA parliamentarian, who gave a speech about kindness. Then we began our awards ceremony. The first degree to be earned in FFA is the discovery degree.

St. Norbert College Aaron Gonnering, of Oconto Falls, and Lindsey Roloff, of Shawano, were recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Gonnering and Roloff were initiated at St. Norbert College. Gonnering and Roloff are among approximately 25,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year.