"Hi!
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| Rich Creek 4-H Club Members at a monthly meeting |
We have A LOT of opportunities and variety in Giles County 4-H
these days. My goal is to build a stronger community/project club presence in
Giles. Currently we have four clubs that are community clubs (Rich Creek,
Narrows, Teen, and Newport). To be a 4-Her in these groups a young person must
1) have paperwork on file, 2) participate in club activities (monthly meetings,
service projects, and fun events), and 3) enroll in an individual project area.
Project areas include everything! Some examples include: sewing, cooking,
fashion review, woodworking, animal care, livestock, shooting sports,
photography, fishing, outdoor adventure, community service, leadership, public
speaking, gardening, insects, small engines, etc. You can get an idea of the
variety by following this link. We then have two
project clubs that all club members have a specific focus (Horsin’ Around 4-H
Club & Ag-Explorers Ag-ventures Club). These 4-Her’s complete horse or
agriculture related projects & activities. We are currently in the process
of starting a competitive shooting sports club. All clubs (except the shooting
sports) are open to youth ages 5-19. All these groups meet monthly and have a
program of work/events for the entire year.
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| 4-H Character Counts & Health Rocks After-School Program |
We also have three after-school 4-H clubs/programs. Macy’s
program is focused on Character Education; Eastern’s is LEGO robotics; and
Narrows in Child Care or Babysitting. We have various 4-H programs and short
term groups throughout the year. For example we have cake decorating,
geocaching, wildlife, dramatic reading, and a pumpkin planting workshop. These
groups may have additional restrictions for enrollment because of the nature of
the event. We also have developed and offer a “School’s Out” program. That
program offers free, educational programming on many of the days during the
school year when students have off because of teacher work days or holidays. We
have hosted three so far this year and have three more coming up!
In VA 4-H, camping is a huge component. For Giles County we
offer scholarships and transportation to all 4-H centers for various
camps run by the 4-H center (recent blog post showcases those). We also have
our Day Camping Series in the summer. This summer will be four weeks long and
youth can sign up for one of all weeks. I’m currently finalizing the details on
those.
I then offer specialized 4-H programming as needed. The tree
seedling program is an example, but I’ve also done VA agricultural products,
natural resources, public speaking, presentations, healthy living and dramatic
reading. These programs usually take place in the school classroom or with
youth church groups or groups like American Heritage Girls, Girl Scouts/Boy
Scouts.
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| 2013 Cloverbud Day Camp participants with VCE Summer Intern. |
We have all sorts of competitive opportunities for youth that
can be built around a club structure, such as consumer sciences, natural
resources, STEM, public speaking, and forestry. We also have domestic and
international exchange opportunities. There are countless other opportunities
in 4-H. The thing I love about 4-H is, if there is enough interest and/or need
we can develop ANYTHING that supports positive youth development.
All of our programs are open to residents and families of Giles
County and are usually free of cost. Our blog, Facebook page, and website are
good places to find current offerings with Giles County 4-H. I have brochures
and marketing items here at the office. We have started distributing a monthly
newsletter for people on our email list. And we also publish articles and
advertisements in the Virginian Leader and on Ch. 2. (We have A LOT of
great opportunities for youth and their families!) – I’d be happy to provide
anything to help you spread the word of what we have. "
-What do you think!? We have a lot going on- we'll be seeing you soon!
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