Congratulations to the Clarendon County 4-H Jr. WHEP Team for being named Grand Champion in the 2021 SC State 4-H Jr. WHEP Contest. The team was made up of 3 participants, Wilson Tisdale (age 9), Blake White (age12) 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. Wilson, Blake and Blake spent 6 weeks studying both independently and together using “Zoom” to prepare for the May 8th competition.
The competition is divided into 2 parts. The first part was an online Wildlife Identification Challenge that is done independently. Wilson Tisdale placed 1st, Blake White placed 3rd, and Blake Proffit tied for 5th 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 SC. Normally, the teams would be able to able to walk around and explore the property they are managing, but due to Covid restrictions, everything had to be done virtually this year. The information needed for the management plan was obtained from pre-recorded 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 Sr. team and a Jr. team were preparing for the 2020 WHEP Challenge until it was cancelled due to Covid-19. The top Sr. teams from SC go on to compete in the National WHEP Challenge.
