UGA Cooperative Extension
Decatur County Extension Office:
4-H Youth Development
- 4-H Groups
- How to Join
- The following two form will be needed to enroll:
- 4HCalendar.pdf
General Info
The mission of Decatur County 4-H is to assist youth in acquiring knowledge, developing life skills, and forming attitudes that will enable them to become self-directing, productive and contributing members of society. This mission is accomplished through "hands-on" learning experiences focused on agricultural and environmental issues, agriculture awareness, leadership, communication skills, foods and nutrition, health, energy conservation, and citizenship.
Exploring and discovering, encouraging and challenging - that's what Georgia 4-H is all about. As a program of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Cooperative Extension System, 4-H is part of the nationwide Extension network.
4-H'ers are known for sharing their research-based knowledge and technology to people where they live and work. 4-H combines federal, state, and local expertise and resources.
News and Events
Decatur County 4-H Livestock Judging Team Wins 3rd Place Honors
The Decatur County 4-H Livestock Judging Teams traveled to Athens, Georgia on March 26th to compete in the State 4-H Livestock Judging Contest. The Junior team consisting of Charley Rayfield, Griffin Long, Anders Austinson, and Josiah Austinson brought home 3rd place honors while judging cattle, sheep, and swine. Senior individuals competing in the contest were Levi Adkins and Stennes Austinson. Charley Rayfield was 6th high overall Junior Individual and highest Junior Individual judging sheep. Josiah Austinson was 3rd high overall Junior Individual.
Congratulations to these 4-H'ers for their accomplishment.
4-H Archery
The Decatur County 4-H Archery Team competed in the Mitchell County Archery Competition on April 23rd. Mason Birdsong was 1st place in the Junior FITA Competition and Matthew Green won 2nd place honors in the Junior FITA Competition. Congratulations to all Cloverleaf, Junior, and Senior team members.
Archery
2011 4-H State Council
Decatur County was well represented at State 4-H Council held June 24-26 at Rock Eagle 4-H Center.
(On right) Landen Bryant, a rising BHS sophomore, and Alexandra McLendon, a rising GCA senior, attended the annual 4-H State Meeting.
They joined other 4-H'ers and leaders throughout Georgia representing almost every county in the state. This year's theme of State Council was "Need A Moment: Grab 4-H." The fast paced weekend was filled with opportunities to explore Georgia 4-H and focused on applying 4-H to everyday life.
4-H'ers also spent the three days attending educational programs, participating in a citizenship ceremony, studying ideas and issues, attending dances, electing State 4-H officers, and exchanging ideas with new friends.
A highlight of the event was the citizenship ceremony for new voters. The ceremony honored delegates who have reached 18 years of age and are eligible to vote in all elections.
Attendees participated in community service projects as part of the weekend. Family Movie Night Fun Kits is a continued project for military partners. 4-H'ers collected new and gently used family dvds to create "Family Night at the Movies Kits." These kits will be given to families experiencing or just returning from deployment.
4-H'ers from each district competed for the Iron Clover Award. The rotating award is presented annually to the district that excels in competitions such as softball, volleyball, pool relay, and 4-H Idol - just to name a few. Each 4-H'er also received a State 4-H Council District t-shirt to wear during the Iron Clover rally and competition.
The Southwest District was the winner of the Iron Clover Competition for 2011. Other highlights included dances, swimming, and a performance by Clovers & Co.
State 4-H Council is the Annual meeting of the Georgia 4-H Assembly with each county represented. This event is just one of many leadership workshops provided for senior 4-H'ers grades 9th - 12th. For more information regarding the Decatur County 4-H Program, please call the Decatur County Extension Office at (229) 248-3033.
Empty 4 Cash Fundraiser
4H Newsletter -
4-H - Head, Heart, Hands, & Health
4-H, one of America’s largest non-formal education programs for youth, makes a major contribution to our nation by helping youth acquire knowledge and develop life skills that help them become self-directing, productive and contributing members of our society. 4-H is open to youth ages 9-19 and even pre-club members (pre-K to age 8) are included in the program.
Today, 4-H involves more than 6.6 million young people across the nation -- from the city, from the farm and in between. The state of Georgia alone currently has over 162,000 youth enrolled in 4-H. These students are learning practical skills in hundreds of projects. But more importantly, they are developing attitudes and habits that help them meet the issues of today and the challenges of tomorrow.
4-H not only asks youngsters to “Make the Best Better”, but it gives them guidance to reach their goals. Decatur County 4-H strives to help its members build communication skills, responsibility, leadership skills and cooperation by participating in the numerous events that 4-H has to offer. Beginning in August at Hutto Middle School, 4-H will meet monthly with the students during class time. A hands-on lesson will be provided that meets the Georgia Performance Standards and Objectives for 5th grade science. The curriculum and activities presented will mirror those from the 5th grade science classes. Students will learn about plant inherited traits, microorganisms, and barrier islands, just to name a few. In addition, members will learn about citizenship and civic engagement.
Meetings for the middle schools, high school, and Grace Christian Academy are held before school once a month. The focus of these meetings is to keep 4-H’ers updated on local, district, and state activities as well as concentrating on goal-setting, leadership, and other life skills. Decatur County 4-H also provides programming and monthly meetings with the local homeschool association.
Decatur County 4-H offers numerous activities for student participation outside of in-school programming. 4-H has youth that exhibit lambs, swine, and cattle. We currently have a Forestry Judging Team, Wildlife Judging Team, and Land Judging Team. Students are able to evaluate livestock on the Livestock Judging Team and test their knowledge of poultry and egg science by participating on the Poultry Judging Team. Additionally, critical thinking skills and product assessment skills are used as part of the Cotton Boll and Consumer Judging event. The 4-H Shotgun Team and 4-H Archery Team have also proven to be a hit among our 4-H’ers. Then every summer our 4-H’ers load the bus and head to camp at one of the five 4-H camps in Georgia. This past summer, Decatur County was fortunate to take a group 5th and 6th grade 4-H’ers to camp at Jekyll Island 4-H Center. Other 4-H centers in Georgia include Camp Wahsega near Dahlonega, Camp Fortson near Atlanta, Camp Burton on Tybee Island, and Rock Eagle near Eatonton, which is the largest 4-H center in the nation.
4-H is conducted by Cooperative Extension of state land-grant universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
This strong educational base is extended to the youngsters through a corps of volunteers, agents, and 4-H leaders who share their time and talents to help 4-H’ers “learn by doing”.
Additionally, thousands of individuals, corporations, foundations and businesses help support the 4-H program by providing incentives and recognition, educational aids, training and travel opportunities, together with advisory, technical and public relations assistance.
4-H is family and community-oriented – 4-H members devote much of their time to community service in a wide variety of projects, ranging from helping the elderly and disabled to restoring historic sites, to landscaping public buildings, to helping preserve their environment.
Across the nation, more than 45,000,000 4-H alumni point with pride to their experiences – telling how much they gained from the discipline of keeping written records, making oral presentations, developing leadership, management and communications skills, and gaining an understanding of citizenship responsibilities.
4-H today is indeed having a strong impact on youth and on America. Find out how you can become involved by calling Lindsey Hayes or Teresa Adkins at the Decatur County Extension office at (229) 248-3033.
(Source-Cheryl Varnadoe, Extension 4-H Specialist, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension – Adapted from National 4-H Council)
Contact
For more information about Decatur County 4-H Youth Development Programs, contact Lindsey Hayes at linsbell@uga.edu or call (229) 248-3033.
Visit the Georgia 4-H website at www.georgia4h.org.
