Written by: Raleigh Dawson, Franklin County 4-H Agent
Franklin County Cloverleaf 4-H’ers discovered that not all classrooms have four walls last week at Wahsega 4-H Center. Throughout the duration of their week at camp various activities and labs allowed attendees to connect the standards taught in the classroom to real world applications in fun and exciting ways. Among these labs were hikes centered around building survival skills and forest ecology. Students also had the chance to study stream health and ecology by catching and identifying macroinvertebrates, then discussing what their presence means in relation to the water quality. Herpetology was an all-time favorite class, as students had the opportunity to learn about different reptiles and amphibians, while even getting to hold and pet animals such as an alligator named Grumbles, an albino corn snake named Elsa, and even a seven foot long king snake lovingly nicknamed Sergeant Piles.
In addition to the many educational activities offered, 4-H’ers had the opportunity to tube down the Chestatee River, slide down the rock falls in Ward Creek, race on the rock climbing wall, zipline across camp, and even test out the flying squirrel on the high ropes course. The week at camp concluded with the water games, where four camp families, Hatfields, McCoys, McDougals, and Clampetts, competed for the “pot of gold”.
Cloverleaf camp is a fun, educational, and rewarding experience that presents 4th-6th graders with opportunities to connect with youth from across the state of Georgia, while enhancing relationship building skills and career exploration. If you have a child who is interested in attending camp in the future, or think you might want to sponsor a child to attend camp, please contact the Franklin County Extension Office at 706-384-2843.
