10/08/2026
Mary Claire Witcher has been selected as Cross County Farm Bureau’s October 4-H Student of the Month. The daughter of Kent and Stacy Witcher of Cherry Valley, Mary Claire is a 10th-grade homeschool student who has been involved in Cross County 4-H for nine years.
Mary Claire currently serves as vice president of Cross County 4-H and senior vice president of Delta Ridge Community Club. This year, she was a Delta District record book winner for her food preservation project and was selected through an application and interview process to serve as an Arkansas 4-H Ambassador. She has also spent the past two summers serving as a camp counselor at Arkansas 4-H camps.
One of Mary Claire’s favorite 4-H activities is the poultry barbecue competition, where she prepares barbecue chicken. She has won at the county level the past two years, earned second- and third-place finishes at the district level, and has earned one of eight statewide spots to compete at the state level each of the past two years.
Mary Claire is a member of Cross County and Arkansas Tech Changemakers Teams, which provide technology education and STEM workshops to clubs and civic groups across Arkansas. She has presented to 4-H clubs, regional and state Extension Homemakers events, Arkansas Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ranchers and Women’s Leadership conferences, and the Arkansas State Fair.
Throughout her 4-H career, Mary Claire has participated in the poultry chain (raising chicks to laying adults), worked at the 4-H booth at the Arkansas State Fair, attended rabbit shows, county O’Ramas, Omelet Days and helped with county fundraisers. She serves as a junior fair board member for the Three County Fair and has shown animals at county, district and state events. She has also entered flowers, handicrafts, artwork and other exhibits in county, district and state fairs.
This spring, Mary Claire helped with Cross County Youth Ag Day, where she manned a station teaching more than 1,500 students about dairy cows over the course of three days.
Outside of 4-H, Mary Claire is a member of the Northeast Arkansas Christian Home Educators yearbook staff, a position she has held for two years. She has also completed numerous community service hours working at food pantries, educating younger children about livestock care, visiting nursing homes, teaching Ag in the Classroom workshops, working school days at the Three County Fair, assisting with fundraising auctions, helping at community petting zoos, cleaning fairgrounds and leading children’s activities at Arkansas Farm Bureau conferences.
Mary Claire also shares her musical talents by frequently performing vocal and piano specials at Lakeview Missionary Baptist Church in Wynne, where she has been a member since 2021.
In her free time, Mary Claire enjoys learning new hairstyles and techniques and spending time with friends. She plans to continue expanding her food preservation and leadership projects and, after graduation, plans to attend cosmetology school.
Pictured are Stacy Witcher, Mary Claire Witcher - recipient, and Jennifer Martin. Mary Claire was presented with a certificate and a padfolio.
