We all know that exercise is great for our overall health. Exercise is important for our cardiovascular health of course, which is why the American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise every week. No less importantly, and especially as we get older, another huge benefit of exercise is in fall and injury prevention.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the ribbons and trophies, but 4-H is about so much more than that. 4-H is a community.

Earlier this year, I visited our nation’s southern border. I knew there was a crisis there, but that visit opened my eyes to more instability and hardship than I had previously seen. Along the border wall at midnight, my colleagues and I spoke with dozens of illegal immigrants who had been detained. I was heartbroken to meet a little six-month-old baby sitting by the wall with her mother waiting to go to the processing center. I was told this was not an unusual occurrence.

We can all agree: the climate changes. We call this the change of seasons and they happen every year, to one degree or another. We can expect cold and snow in the winter, heat and severe thunder storms in the summer and a wider variety of weather in the spring and fall. Some things rarely change yet many whip up a frenzy when natural disasters inevitably occur.

KEARNEY - The annual UNK Cross Country invite took place last Monday. Hi-Line, Medicine-Valley, Cambridge, Southern Valley, Southwest, and Maywood-Hayes Center competed along with roughly 150 other teams.

HAYES CENTER - The Maywood-Hayes Center cross country meet took place last Thursday. Ten schools competed, and a few racers went head to head for places.

BARTLEY - The Southwest volleyball team continued its winning ways with a clean sweep of Arapahoe last Tuesday, taking down the Warriors, 25-20, 25-6, 25-13. The Roughriders overwhelmed the Warriors with offense, a balanced one at that, as five different attackers had at least four kills.

ARAPAHOE - The Arapahoe volleyball team jumped on visiting Cambridge Friday and had its opportunities to climb ahead in the match. But the Trojans rallied to claim the opening set and rolled from there to a 25-23, 25-13, 25-17 victory to improve to 12-3 on the season.

CAMBRIDGE - The Cambridge volleyball team hosted Medicine Valley Thursday and swept its way to a 25-15, 25-8, 25-16 victory over the Raiders to earn their 11th win of the season while dealing the Raiders their eighth loss.

STAMFORD - In a game where each team matched the other run-for-run through five innings, the Southern Valley/Alma softball team eventually ran out of answers in the sixth of a 9-4 defeat to Highway 6 Thursday.