{"id":182,"date":"2016-08-03T11:15:52","date_gmt":"2016-08-03T15:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/water\/?p=182"},"modified":"2016-08-03T11:39:14","modified_gmt":"2016-08-03T15:39:14","slug":"kids-and-water-education-at-4-h2o-camp-in-camilla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/water\/2016\/08\/kids-and-water-education-at-4-h2o-camp-in-camilla\/","title":{"rendered":"Kids and Water Education at 4-H2O camp in Camilla"},"content":{"rendered":"

Southwest Georgia 4-H\u2019ers Learn the Importance of Water Stewardship<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>by: Jennifer Grogan, Mitchell County CEC & 4-H Agent \u00a0and\u00a0Debra Cox, Mitchell County 4-H Associate<\/p>\n

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More than 130 4-H\u2019ers, from throughout Southwest Georgia, participated in the Annual Mitchell County 4-H2<\/sub>O Day Camp held June 21 \u2013 23 where participants learned all about water\u2014the importance of conservation, its significance in agriculture and its environmental impact. 4-H\u2019ers and leaders, from 11 counties, including Brooks, Calhoun, Colquitt, Crisp, Dougherty, Lee, Mitchell, Quitman, Sumter, Terrell and Worth, were in attendance. The three-day camp is a collaborative effort coordinated by Mitchell County Extension\/4-H and the University of Georgia\u2019s Stripling Irrigation Research Park.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis year\u2019s camp is the ninth year 4-H2<\/sub>0 has been held,\u201d stated Debra Cox, Mitchell County 4-H Associate.\u00a0 \u201cIt started as a summer activity for Mitchell County 4-H\u2019ers in 2008. Surrounding counties expressed interest in participating, and in 2009, 4-H2<\/sub>0 was turned into a district-wide camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

A minimal registration fee of $25.00 is charged for the three-day camp. Each year, the C. M. Stripling Family provides additional funding, to help make this much needed educational event not only a reality but also affordable for youth in our area to attend. This year the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District donated funds while Mitchell County Farm Bureau and Dougherty County Farm Bureau sponsored meals for the volunteers teaching the classes the first two days of the camp.<\/p>\n

According to Jennifer Grogan, Mitchell County Extension Coordinator & 4-H Agent, \u201cYouth are our future leaders; it is vital that we take time to teach them the importance of agriculture and taking care of water, our precious natural resource. We use our 4-H slogan\u2019s \u201cLearn by Doing\u201d approach to reinforce what our 4-H\u2019ers are taught, by their teachers, in school. The hands-on activities practiced, during 4-H2<\/sub>O Day Camp, allow our youth to better understand the impact their actions have on water for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The first day of camp was spent at the Flint RiverQuarium in Albany where staff member Melissa Martin had a great day planned for participants. 4-H\u2019ers spent the day learning about functionality of rain barrels in the landscape, the importance of water for the human body, and water and soil erosion.\u00a0 The 4-H\u2019ers also toured the RiverQuarium. Organizations taking part teaching included Dougherty County Extension, Phoebe-Putney Network of Trust, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, RiverQuarium, and Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful Commission.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0886\"<\/a>\u00a0 Students at the Flint RiverQuarium in Albany, GA.<\/p>\n

The second day of camp was held at C.M. Stripling Irrigation Research Park near Camilla where campers played under the irrigation system, created a water cycle bracelet, and were taught how agriculture and water resources are connected throughout the state.\u00a0 4-H\u2019ers learned about macro invertebrates, the water cycle, agriculture irrigation systems, the Claiborne Aquifer and careers in water, environment and agriculture. They also became stars on Jeopardy-Conservation Edition!\u00a0 Representatives teaching classes were from Georgia Soil and Water Conservation, Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District, the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Crop & Soil Sciences department, United States Geological Survey Unit, Golden Triangle RC&D, and Seminole County Extension. Two former 4-H\u2019ers, now in college, also served as teachers for the event<\/p>\n

\"Casey<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Casey Cox and Luke Crosson presented Jeopardy Conservation Edition at Stripling Irrigation Research Park.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Jeannie<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0Jeannie Brown talked to the 4-H\u2019ers about the Enviroscape at the Flint RiverQuarium.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Camilla<\/a>\u00a0Camilla Summerford, former Seminole County 4-H\u2019er\/college student \u00a0and Cindy Meadows, Seminole County 4-H Agent spoke on the Water Cycle.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

An international flair was added the second day of camp; Jennifer Grogan gave a presentation on \u201cWater Issues in Ghana\u201d and explained to the campers that water issues are also important globally. Mrs. Grogan serves as mentor and collaborator with AgriCorps<\/em> fellow, Gena Perry, who is working with 4-H Clubs in Ghana, which is located in West Africa. Ms. Perry participated in the 2015 4-H2<\/sub>O Camp, explaining her role with AgriCorps<\/em> in Africa. Mrs. Grogan shared pictures of water sources and information about water issues and research being conducted by some of the 4-H\u2019ers in Ghana.<\/p>\n

\"Kids<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0One of the highlights of class at Stripling Irrigation Research Park is for the youth to play under the irrigation system.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Wes<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0Dr. Wes Porter spoke to the 4-H\u2019ers on ag irrigation systems.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Dillon<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Dillon Blount, former Mitchell County 4-H\u2019er\/college student and Dr.\u00a0 Gary Hawkins talked about careers in Water, Environment and Agriculture.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The third day of camp 4-H\u2019ers traveled to a water park, Water World in Dothan, Alabama, where they celebrated the recreational use of water by having lots of fun playing in cool clean water! While traveling to Dothan and crossing two of Georgia\u2019s main rivers, the Flint and the Chattahoochee, leaders discussed water issues such as the Water Wars with Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe camp is all about helping our 4-H members understand the importance of water to our region of the state, why it\u2019s important to protect it, conserve it and use it wisely so it will be around for future use,\u201d said Calvin Perry, superintendent of the University of Georgia\u2018s Stripling Irrigation Research Park. \u201cTime spent working with the youth at 4-H2<\/sub>O Day Camp will help future generations. Who knows, one of the 4-H\u2019ers attending 4-H2<\/sub>O might become our governor, president or county commissioner; if so, we sure want them to be a champion for our organizations, agriculture, and water!\u201d<\/p>\n

Plans are already being made for the 2017 Mitchell County 4-H2<\/sub>O Day Camp.\u00a0 For more information on 4-H2<\/sub>0 Day Camp, please call the Mitchell County Extension\/4-H Office at 229-336-2066.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

4-H leaders in Southwest Georgia are sneaky. \u00a0They get kids to come to 4-H2O camp for a couple of days and while they are at camp they educate them about the importance of water in the southwest portion of Georgia. \u00a0To read more about how these 4-H leaders teach students about water resources read the full story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":183,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,6],"tags":[39,14],"class_list":["post-182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-4-h-water","category-conservation","tag-debra-cox","tag-jennifer-grogan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/water\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/water\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/water\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/water\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/145"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/water\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/water\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/water\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182\/revisions\/195"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/water\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/water\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/water\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/water\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}