Our Impact
Making A Difference in Our County
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension is working hard for its constituents. The following are examples of Extension’s impact in the county over the past year.
4-H Youth Development
4-H is the nation’s largest positive youth development organization, and provides programming that allows youth to explore their interests while fulling developmental needs of experiencing belonging, achieving mastery, and learning independence and generosity. In this way, 4-H programs help youth develop into contributing members of society.
Camden County 4-H utilized in-school programs in 5th grade classrooms, out-of-school club meetings, our 4-H military partnership with Kings Bay youth and teen centers, summer programs and district and state events to impact the youth in Camden County by improving communication skills, teaching life skills, encouraging STEM engagement, and building positive relationships.? ?
Camden County 4-H also partners with other local and state organizations to offer specialty programs and community service opportunities to the youth in our programs.? We started our Fishing Club and partner with our local state park and DNR Coastal Resources division to offer youth in this program opportunities to explore their local coastal ecology and learn about sustainable fishing practices.? They perform meaningful community service while attending club meetings that positively impacts their community. Additionally, Camden County 4-H has a thriving Project Shooting Awareness Fun and Education (SAFE) BB team.
Camden County 4-H used Cloverleaf Project Achievement to increase communication and public speaking skills in 4th-6th grade students in Camden County. We had 62 students attend the district competition, and 89% of students who completed the post-event survey reported agreeing or strongly agreeing that? they were now better at giving and preparing presentations. When asked about the most important thing they learned, respondents reported learning valuable life lessons.
Agricultural and Natural Resources
The Camden County Extension office offers many agriculture and natural resources services to local clientele. The office offers soil, water and plant analyses through the university’s laboratories, as well as in-office and on-site consultations on issues such as pond management, lawn health and maintenance, gardening issues and strategies, water quality, and land use decisions.
The Camden County Agriculture and Natural Resources Lunch & Learn Program continues to provide an annual series of virtual programs. The virtual programs began during the pandemic and proved to be a successful way to provide impactful educational programming for clientele. ?
Additionally, the Georgia Green Landscape Stewards certification program provides educational resources that teach Georgians about protecting natural resources, increasing plant and animal biodiversity, conserving soil and water, providing wildlife and pollinator habitat, and improving public and environmental health. After learning about sustainable land management practices, participants can measure their own activities with the program metric scorecard and earn certification status for their landscape.
In summary, Camden County Agriculture and Natural Resources creates impact through several programs, including the statewide Georgia Green Landscape Stewards Program which continues to grow, and a popular lunch and learn series with international reach.
Family and Consumer Sciences
Although Camden County does not have a Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) agent based in the county Extension office, we strive to assist local residents with their questions. Common questions cover food safety, food preservation, dealing with mold and mildew, healthy meal planning, nutrition, family budgeting, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) resources and more. These issues and others are answered through a wide variety of free 成人影院 Extension publications available at the county office and phone conferences with Family and Consumer Sciences agents from surrounding counties. Neighboring FACS agents often conduct programming that our county residents are welcome to attend. This year there have also been many virtual opportunities for training and participation regardless of the client’s location. Our office can provide information about programming in surrounding counties.