Cass County 4-H Senior Consumer Decision Making team: (left to right) Grace Burchill, West Fargo; Nora Severance, Hunter; Coach Rita Ussatis; Jack Kram, Fargo; Greta Olsen, Amenia (NDSU photo).
The North Dakota 4-H Consumer Decision Making team from Cass County participated in the 2025 4-H Family and Consumer Sciences National Championship and Conference on Jan. 15-18. Teams representing 13 states competed at the event in San Antonio, Texas.
The Consumer Decision Making Contest educates youth about making better consumer choices. This year’s consumer classes were athletic wear, dental products, invitations, event venues, fast food and coffee brewing. The team competed in class placings, oral reasons and a group think activity.
Members of the Cass County team were Greta Olsen from Amenia, Grace Burchill from West Fargo, Jack Kram from Fargo and Nora Severance from Hunter.
The team placed eighth overall. Olsen earned the highest overall individual score in the nation and placed second in the placings category and fifth in the oral reasons category.
“My teammates and I got together a couple of times a month to practice and improve our skills, and having such a dedicated team encouraged me to focus and push myself harder,” says Olsen. “Earning the title of national champion will forever be a highlight.”
The North Dakota 4-H Foundation sponsored the team for the national contest.
Consumer Decision Making is one of the many educational events sponsored through the North Dakota 4-H program. 4-H is the youth education program of NDSU Extension.
