Lincoln County 4-H attended Cloverleaf District Project Achievement (DPA) at Rock Eagle on Saturday, February 18, 2023. Georgia 4-H Project Achievement helps to provide youth with skills that can be built on over their lifetime. Students choose a project area of interest, research the topic, write a speech, and deliver a presentation. Some of the many skills that can be developed through participating in DPA are leadership, creativity, public speaking, and record keeping. As students’ progress through school and continue to participate in DPA, they are required to keep a record (a portfolio) that shows the work they have completed in their project area, leadership, community service, and 4-H in general. This work encourages individual reasoning, exploration, and application. Cloverleaf and Junior 4-H’ers (5th – 8th graders), can compete in their school or county and at the district level. Senior 4-H’ers (9th-12th grade) can move on to compete at state and national levels.
To prepare Cloverleaf 4-H students to present at DPA, the Lincoln County Extension Office hosted eight workshops during January and February. Students were provided with snacks and the materials needed to prepare their presentations. The Extension Office has two offices with computers set up for students to research their chosen topics, prepare their speeches (which must be under 6 minutes), practice their speeches, and prepare their visual aid poster boards for competition. 4-H’ers were assisted in their research and project completion by Lincoln County 4-H Educator, Rebekah Goble.
There were 76 project areas for 4-H’ers to choose from at Cloverleaf DPA and there were over 400 students from across the district competing. This year’s Cloverleaf DPA turned out to be the 5th largest Cloverleaf DPA held at Rock Eagle since 2010. 4-H’ers are encouraged to bring their families with them to DPA. This year we had a total of 1173 people in attendance representing 23 counties. This number included 441 competitors (79 4th graders, 291 5th graders, 71 6th graders), 145 registered adult and teen leaders, and 587 family members. This was a significant increase in attendees from last year.
Two Lincoln County Elementary School 5th graders, Ranaiyah Jones and Nathan Blanton, presented on the topic of Cat Care. County staff members Robyn Stewart (Extension Agent) and Rebekah Goble (4-H Educator) served as judges in the project areas of Horses and Historic Places and Events. In addition to presenting their projects, 4-H’ers were provided lunch and given the option to participate in several recreational activities, including: Scavenger Hunt, Games, Line Dancing, Board Games, Visiting the Canteen, and Trips to the Rock Eagle Effigy. Ranaiyah Jones was one of the 4 winners in the Scavenger Hunt. Ranaiyah and Nathan earned first and second place medallions respectively for their presentations on Cat Care. This year, Cat Care was a project area with one of the largest numbers of total participants. We are incredibly proud of the efforts put forth by Ranaiyah and Nathan!
In Lincoln County, 4-H begins when students reach 5th grade (public school or homeschool). If you have a child that is interested in participating, please let us know at uge3181@uga.edu or 706-359-3233.
