Partners In Potential

Georgia 4-H is not just about agriculture or raising farm animals.

Across the state, students who participate in the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension 4-H program explore everything from science and technology to entrepreneurship and possible career opportunities.

In classrooms and after-school programs, 4-H introduces students in rural and urban areas to opportunities they may not have been aware of before and involves them in projects that have real-world applications in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

A core component of 4-H is District Project Achievement (DPA), a program in which youths choose a research topic and spend a school year organizing and preparing a presentation or portfolio. The experience is comparable to preparing a resume, according to Melinda Miller, 4-H program development coordinator for Georgia’s Southwest District.

“Every 4-H competition, conference and camp has an educational component that will prepare students for their futures,” Miller said.

Whether in a town of less than 1,000 or a densely populated urban area, 4-H gives students a glimpse of the world beyond their homes and classrooms.

Partnerships with other organizations — such as the Setting Your Sights on Medical School program with Mercer University School of Medicine — bring students to college campuses and other organizations, showing them that the idea of attending medical school is a real option for them. Through 4-H Career Exploration Day, middle and high school students get the chance to tour the UGA-Tifton Veterinary Diagnostic and Investigational Laboratory and learn about topics related to veterinary medicine.

Georgia high school senior and Emanuel County 4-H’er Madison Moore has combined her passion for engineering with her love for 4-H by creating a monthly STEAM club through 4-H to share her knowledge and love of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics subjects with students in local elementary and middle schools. Moore taught lessons about the engineering design process, aerodynamics, inertia, and kinetic and potential energy. She also led hands-on activities like building rockets, making a volcano and launching a catapult.

“I really enjoy presenting these kids with the opportunity to learn the kinds of things that I wished I could have learned when I was their age,” said Moore, who hopes to pursue a career as a drafter or civil engineer. “I hope to fill their minds with knowledge, which will hopefully fuel their passion for STEAM as well.”

In Sumter County, UGA Extension 4-H agent Crystal Perry created the ROCKETS (Reaching Our Community through Kindness, Education, Togetherness and STEM) project to help disabled students learn STEM-related lessons in a safe setting where they feel included. The program helps students to build positive relationships, increase their knowledge in science disciplines and enrich their educational learning experience. With the help of Sumter County Extension, students at two local schools designed, cultivated, watered, weeded and harvested vegetables like broccoli, carrots, collards, greens and onions. The students also tended the school garden throughout the year.

“If you look at research, it is shown that students with disabilities and their families may be reluctant to participate in after-school activities because of what they think their abilities or limitations may be. It was more intentional to reach this audience by going directly to them,” Perry said.

In four north Georgia counties — Catoosa, Gordon, Murray and Whitfield — a grant from Microsoft and the National 4-H Council helped local 4-H’ers create the Tech Changemakers program. In these four counties, 4-H’ers are using their knowledge of technology to teach digital literacy skills to adults.

Stephanie Skojac, the UGA Extension 4-H agent in Murray County, partnered with the local senior center last fall to hold monthly technology classes taught by 4-H'ers. The students taught 15 adult students how to grocery shop online, use Facebook, and use video-calling services like Skype and FaceTime. About 25 4-H students participated each month, and the senior center has requested the program be offered again this year.

“We are realizing that it is important for our whole population to have STEAM skills, so we’re flipping the model. Instead of having adults teach youth, we’re having the youth teach older adults,” said Allie Griner, UGA Extension 4-H agent in Gordon County. “How to get an email address is a very simple concept for some of us, but for adults not used to technology, it’s a huge thing to be able to do that.”