With school starting up again for the new school year, it’s time to get back to our monthly 4‑H meetings with our 4-H members. We will be in the process of discussing in-school meeting times with teachers and principals and students will be notified by their teacher of their meeting time. However, our students in 7th and 8th grades (Junior 4-H members) hold their meetings twice a month at the 4-H office. Their first meeting will be on Thursday, August 19, from 4 to 5 PM. The 9th-12th grade students (Senior 4-H members) also meet at the 4-H office twice a month and their first meeting will be on Monday, August 16, at 4 PM. We will also hold a meeting for home schooled students at the 4-H office on Wednesday, August 18, at 2 PM. This meeting is open to any home schooled student in grades 4 through 12. Older home schooled students are welcome to attend the Junior or Senior 4-H Club meeting if they wish.
CERTIFIED COACHES TRAINING
Each year, Georgia 4-H offers a training for target sports coaches. The training is set to be two days, Friday and Saturday, with some online training to be done ahead of time. Trainings are offered for rifle, pistol, archery, and shotgun disciplines. This is a required training for any adult who would like to serve as a coach with any of the 4-H target sports programs.
In order for an adult to attend the training, they must be a Certified 4-H Volunteer Leader. To become a Certified Volunteer, a person must complete a 4-H volunteer leader application and agreement. Once we have these two forms turned in, we are required to do a character reference check on the individual. If they are given a positive character reference, then volunteer will be contacted about completing a criminal background check. If this comes back as approved, the individual must then complete an online Risk Management Training. After completing all of this, the person is ready for service as a 4-H volunteer.
The Certified Coaches Training will be offered three times this school year; October 8-9, December 3-4, and January 7-8, 2022. All disciplines are not always offered at each training, particularly the pistol coaches training. Therefore it is best to sign up early for the training if you are interested in helping coach this year.
Please feel free to contact me about this if you are interested. I will be glad to sit down and discuss it with you.
GEORGIA NATIONAL FAIR CONTESTS
Each year, the Georgia National Fair provides contests for youth in 4-H, FFA, FCCLA, and TSA. One of the contests that 4-H members can enter is called Minibooth Exhibits. These are small triangular shaped exhibit booths where students can put an exhibit about a project of interest to them. It is a great way for 4-H members to share information about their main 4-H project to help build their District Project Achievement portfolio. These booths are designed to quickly educate the public as they browse through the educational hall. Therefore, information on the booth should be succinct and large enough to read easily.
4-H members interested in signing up for a mini-booth need to come talk to the 4-H staff and get started preparing it now. The fair only allows four booths per county so we will have a county contest to determine which four will advance to the fair. The county entry deadline for Minibooths is 4 PM on Friday, August 27.
Other contests available to 4-H members include the Family Scarecrow, Family Seed Art, Omelet, Public Speaking, Instant Camera Photography, Variety Show, Wild Game Dish, Cloverleaf Peanut, Cupcake Masters, Healthy Commodity (corn this year), Homemade Ice Cream, Family Pumpkin Decorating, and Pizza Contests. Static exhibit contests include Computer Graphic Design, Decorated Agricultural Products, Recycling, Terrarium/Dish Garden, as well as the Minibooths.
We will need fair entry forms turned in no later than Friday, September 17, by 4 PM. Please contact the Extension office for more details and a copy of the rules for any of these contests.
4-H ON FACEBOOK/REMIND APP
Coffee County 4-H has a group page on Facebook. 4-H members and parents can be added to the group by asking to be added to the 4-H group. It is a closed group, so only those accepted will be able to view content. If you have children in 4-H, you should ask to join this group so you can keep up with 4-H activities.
Another great way to keep up with what’s going on is to join the Remind group for your 4-H student’s age group. The Cloverleaf 4-H group is for parents of 4th – 6th grade 4-H members. To join it, text the message @coffeecl4h to the number 81010. Parents of 7th and 8th grade 4-H members need to text the message @coffeejr4h to the same number, 81010. And high school 4-H parents and members need to text the message @coffee4h to 81010 to join the Senior 4-H Remind Group. When you join one or more of these groups, you will receive text notifications of 4-H events.
If you have questions about the Coffee County 4-H Club program, or questions around the farm or home, please feel free to contact the Coffee County Extension office at (912) 384-1402. Remember, we are YOUR local connection to the University of Georgia.