MONTEREY, La. &045; Ryan Perkins, a junior at Monterey High School, has achieved the highest honor in the 4-H club &045; being selected as a delegate to represent Louisiana at the National 4-H Conference in Washington, D.C.

Perkins, along with other 4-H delegates nationwide, will attend the conference from March 29 to April 5.

&uot;At the conference we’ll be learning ways to get the community more involved, and community service and leadership skills will be addressed by people from the Department of Agriculture,&uot; Perkins said.

&uot;All of this will relate how we can bring it back to Louisiana,&uot; he said.

Perkins, 16, is originally from Houston and is living in Natchez with his parents, Diana and Terry Perkins.

Diana Perkins teaches special education at Monterey High School.

Perkins said he was first introduced to the 4-H Club in the sixth grade through friends who were already members and asked him to come to a meeting.

Perkins began making his way to the top by winning many awards.

Those honors included first place in photography at the statewide 4-H Short Course Convention in Baton Rouge.

The requirements for the photography contest included typing a six-page story, three pages of 4-H project pictures and a 10-page portfolio of any type of pictures.

Contestants also had to show efforts in leadership, citizenship and community service &045; three qualities Perkins easily could show.

For example, Perkins is president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and is a member of First Baptist Church of Natchez and its youth and adult choir.

He is also active in its broadcast ministry, a service for the homebound in which Perkins videotapes services for the sick.

Besides being a model citizen and acclaimed 4-H Club member, Perkins is also very involved at Monterey High School.

Perkins is the captain of the basketball team and second baseman for the baseball team and a national Beta Club member.

He also sings in musical competitions with the school cortet, is editor of the campus yearbook and is a staff member of the campus newspaper.

He also maintains a 4.0 grade point average.

&uot;It’s a challenge to balance all the activities and sports,&uot; Perkins said.