The below post was originally shared in February of 2019; however, I wanted to reshare again to remind everyone of this great educational team available to youth 4th grade and up. Consumer Judging is a great way to teach youth reasoning skills, public speaking skills, and presentation skills. I encourage you to look into coaching a team, partnering with your county offices, and/or promoting at your youth centers. Competitions are held in October. Please read the below Feb. post to learn more.
Consumer Judging Originally posted on Feb. 4, 2019:
There are many things I love about 4-H and one of them is Consumer Judging. In 4-H we value teaching youth important life skills like the importance of generosity, public speaking, critical thinking, science, and agriculture. 4-H also promotes youth gaining independence through various programs. Consumer Judging is one of several outstanding 4-H Judging Teams. Consumer Judging includes many important life skills that youth benefit from on a daily basis. Whether you work on a military base or at the local UGA Extension Office I encourage you to look into promoting Consumer Judging, which occurs every Fall.
Consumer Judging is a competition that requires youth to commit to a team with practices that can last for about 1-2 months depending on the practice schedule. Youth study relevant consumer products like computers, cell-phones, DVD rentals, fast food, credit cards, and backpacks. The products change yearly so teens are able to broaden their understanding of current consumer products along with their personal reasoning skills. Youth who attend practices will gain knowledge on how to be a good consumer through price comparison of products along with reasoning skills to understand the need of the consumer. The competition also educates the youth on understanding product quality, price comparison, and product description. These skills are further developed through youth presenting their reasoning and product knowledge in front of a judge.
There are many ways to promote or coordinate Consumer Judging. Some county programs offer a 1-day Consumer Judging training where youth learn all there is to know about consumer judging in one day, which helps decrease the commitment time for youth while still educating youth. A more common method of training is to host 1-2 practices a week focusing on a given topic area per practice. Additionally, some counties divide practices up by having younger/new members attend 1 practice while the older/experienced members attend a different practice. There is no right or wrong way to host a Consumer Judging practice. Find out the best time for the youth who are interested and go from there to develop a sound Consumer Judging Team.
An important key to note is that coaches must be certified to led the practices and to take youth to the competition. Training certifications happen throughout the year generally once in the fall, once in the winter, and once in the summer. If you are interested in assisting or coaching a club I encourage you to reach out to your county extension staff if you are a military base staff member along with checking out the Ga 4-H website Consumer page to lean more: https://georgia4h.org/programs/focus-areas/healthy-living/family-consumer-science/cotton-boll-and-consumer-judging/