Our Impact
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension is working hard for its constituents. The following are examples of Extension’s impact on the county over the past year.
Family and Consumer Sciences
The FACS agent helped bring $1.48M in tax refunds back to the local economy, saving clients $647K in tax prep fees, with an overall impact of $3.18M. Through the 成人影院 Virtual Income Tax Assistance program, 1,619 federal returns were filed. The agent also assisted 66 clients in 2024, helping secure $50K in economic relief. With continued VITA expansion, financial literacy education, and estate planning workshops, the agent strengthens financial capabilities in multiple counties. The Mo-Money Mo-Saving$ Blog has reached over 2,500 people, promoting saving and financial education since June 2023.
Agriculture and Natural Resources
ANR programming has emphasized programs in livestock production, water quality, and wildlife management, alongside continued community outreach efforts and community partnerships. We are proud to report that 100% of program participants have demonstrated an increase in knowledge on these topics and intend to apply the content they've learned to their practices. Additionally, ANR programming produces a monthly newsletter, distributed to 200 recipients each month, and a weekly educational series called "Critter Capture" on our Facebook page. We are working hard to increase extension awareness and accessibility amongst homeowners and look forward to implementing multiple new programs this upcoming year.
4-H Youth Development
How “Sweet” it is to Educate Students on the Importance of Agricultural Literacy?
Wilkes County 4-H serves as a valuable resource for the Wilkes County community by providing research-based information and various educational and fun activities and events from the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. The Extension staff, parents, teachers, and community leaders realized that many students lacked knowledge in agriculture, natural resources, and family and consumer sciences and their impact on strawberry education.
Wilkes County 4-H taught all fourth-grade classes in Wilkes County schools a lesson on Strawberries and read the “I Love Strawberry” book to each classroom. Students learned about the different varieties grown in our state as well as those local to our area. The students were taught when and how to plant strawberry plants, nutritional value, uses of the product and where to purchase locally grown in our county.
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To further enrich student’s agricultural literacy, Wilkes County Extension created and coordinated a day-long Agriculture in the Classroom program that was held at the Washington Wilkes Elementary School. This program was designed for fourth graders in the county and their teachers and included lessons on: Plants, Soils, Drainage, Gardening, Nutrition, Food Groups/My Plate Diagram, Pollination, Honey Bees, Taste Testing, and DNA Extraction. ?
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Wilkes County’s?Ag in the Classroom program reached over 100 fourth-grade youth in the county. Teachers and parents praised the program and its no-cost benefit. Teachers were also given educational materials and other goods to send home with their students and share with their families. These materials included but were not limited to: strawberry plant stage posters, strawberry seedlings to take home, growth pamphlets, and strawberry recipes. These materials were instrumental for teachers to reinforce and continue teaching about agriculture in their classrooms. Equipping citizens with factual knowledge about the agriculture industry from an early age will strengthen and support the economic growth of Georgia and Wilkes County. Plans are underway to continue this educational program in partnership with the school system and ag industry partners.?