4-H needs volunteer leaders

Each year, 4-H clubs are unable to offer lots of programs due to lack of volunteer leaders. If you have a particular skill set that would be an asset to share with our youth, why not consider signing up to become a 4-H volunteer leader.

Coffee County 4-H currently offers target sports programs for archery, BB, .22 rifle, air rifle, and shotgun. We also have a great horse club. However, we could be offering so much more, like Land Judging, Forestry Field Day, Cotton Boll and Consumer Judging, Horse Judging, just to name a few. However, we don’t have volunteer leaders trained for these programs.

If you are interested in becoming a Certified Volunteer Leader and trainer for one of these programs, please contact the Coffee County Extension office and let us explain how you can help the youth in our community. I know that you will enjoy the time you get to spend with our youth in 4-H.

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.

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.