Georgia 4-H helps youth to acquire knowledge, develop life skills and form attitudes that will enable them to become self-directive and productive members of society. The program sets the stage for youth and adults to learn, grow and work together as catalysts for positive change.
Mission
Georgia 4-H has a mission to assist youth in acquiring knowledge, developing life skills and forming attitudes that will enable them to become self-directing, productive and contributing members of society. This mission is accomplished through hands-on learning experiences and a focus on agricultural and environmental issues, agriculture awareness, leadership, communication skills, foods and nutrition, health, energy conservation and citizenship.
Georgia 4-H is all about exploring and discovering, encouraging and challenging. As a program of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Cooperative Extension System, 4-H is part of the nationwide Extension network.
Members of 4-H are known for sharing their research-based knowledge and technology with others where they live and work. Georgia 4-H combines federal, state, and local expertise and resources.
Environmental Education
Environmental education programs are administered by UGA Cooperative Extension at six 4-H centers across the state.
These programs offer teachers and students a combination of resources in the forms of nature and equipment to aid in the learning process. Programs can be customized to meet specific objectives as requested by visiting schools.
Program Objectives
To develop an awareness, knowledge and appreciation for the natural environment
To cultivate curiosity, critical reasoning and evaluation skills
To develop positive relationships between students and their teachers
To make the school program more meaningful by applying knowledge and skills required in the classroom to real-life situations
To provide experiences in scientific processes, such as observing, measuring, classifying, etc.
To develop self-confidence and physical fitness
To develop an appreciation for the local and natural history of an area
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension depends on thousands of volunteers who give generously to extend program impact and reach in support Extension missions. During Volunteer Appreciation Week April 21-28, UGA Extension celebrates the many volunteers who donate their time to facilitate 4-H, Master Gardener and Family and Consumer Sciences programming. Volunteers across Extension contributed over 324,200 hours in 2023, the equivalent of more than 155 full-time employees.
The Georgia 4-H Foundation is encouraging friendly competition between 4-H supporters in each county in Georgia to benefit positive youth development during the “$4 for 4-H” fundraiser on April 4. In what has become an annual tradition, each Georgia county asks local donors to make online donations of $4 or more that day, with the goal of receiving at least four donations per county. Counties that receive four or more donations will turn green on a Georgia map that will be updated throughout the day on social media April 4.
Georgia’s inaugural First Flock is retiring to Fortson 4-H Center almost three years after they came to roost at the Governor’s Mansion in 2021. Six members of the original flock traded places with 15 new hens during a ceremonial swap on Feb. 1 at the First Flock’s custom coop on the eastern side of the 18-acre mansion grounds in Atlanta. The idea for the project was hatched in 2020 when Georgia first lady Marty Kemp expressed her desire to include agricultural education via residential hens at the mansion.
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