Amya Tyson chooses brightly colored spangles to decorate her Christmas ornament. (Source photo by Linda Morland)Jordin Jackson holds her two favorite Christmas ornaments from an afternoon of artistic fun. (Source photo by Linda Morland)
Kids had an afternoon of fun and when it was over, they had something to bring home and trim the tree with, as the 4-H ambassadors held a Christmas Ornament Festival for families at the UVI Extension Center on St. Croix.
“I want to share the Christmas spirit of 4-H with the community,” said Trey Francis, one of the 4-H ambassadors who organized the festival. “This event helps build leadership and communication skills while helping my community.”
The ambassadors are high school students who promote 4-H and act as role models for younger children while developing leadership skills. Sarah Dahl-Smith, 4-H extension agent at UVI, leads the program.
During the afternoon, more than 30 participants moved among 10 tables that offered the opportunity to make a variety of creative and beautiful Christmas ornaments and decorations.
Adorned in antlers, Sameer Parrilla holds up a colorful flower as his mom, Jennifa Parrilla enjoys the moment.(Source photo by Linda Morland)Joey Swanson Jr. holds a freshly made Christmas panda ornament as his grandfather, Rodney Thomas, enjoys the fun in the background. (Source photo by Linda Morland)Sameer Parrilla, Dominique Jenkins and Kaiden Castillo create Christmas treasures from pine cones. (Source photo by Linda Morland)4-H Ambassador Justice Veira, one of 15 ambassadors assisting at the event, enjoys the opportunity to help younger children prepare for Christmas. (Source photo by Linda Morland)Grace King, 4-H ambassador, center, helps as children gather at her table to work on ornaments using bright madras fabric. (Source photo by Linda Morland)The entire Encarnacion family participated in an afternoon of creating Christmas ornaments. Christopher stands to help his son, Jahzari. Rickysha holds Baejah in her lap as they work on a reindeer. (Source photo by Linda Morland)Trey Francis, standing, helps Sameer Parrilla as his mother, Jennifa Parrilla, watches and Renisha Thomas works on an ornament. (Source photo by Linda Morland)Kaiden Castillo takes a quick look around as he works to decorate a pine cone. His dad, Bernard Castillo uses a glue gun beside him. (Source photo by Linda Morland)Concentrating on a snowman, Jahniel Perez thinks about how to complete the ornament. (Source photo by Linda Morland)Ashayla Coates concentrates, left, on her creation while Denae Jenicins stands next to her mother, Cassandra King to collaborate on Christmas decor. (Source photo by Linda Morland)
