Georgia 4-H

<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Georgia 4-H

07/03/2009

Kings Bay Naval Base Named Military 4-H Club of the Year

ATHENS, GA – Georgia 4-H announced on 10 June that Kings Bay Submarine Base in Camden County received the Georgia 4-H Military Club of the Year. The award is presented to the best all around Military 4-H Club in Georgia.

“In its short tenure, Kings Bay 4-H has excelled at enrolling members, offering unique programs and taking full advantage of the programming and curricula offered by Georgia 4-H,” said Casey Mull, State 4-H Military Liaison for University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. Navy Child & Youth Programs began its partnership with National 4-H Headquarters in late 2007. Soon after, Kings Bay Child & Youth Programs partnered with University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, State 4-H Faculty and Camden County Extension Agent, Amber Defore, to provide an introductory training to staff members in 4-H. Since that time, approximately 100 Navy youth joined Kings Bay 4-H. Kings Bay 4-H was selected in part due to its quick embracing of the collaborative partnership. This is evidenced by Kings Bay 4-H enrolling 10% of the world’s Navy 4-H’ers within the first year of the project.

Kings Bay 4-H volunteers include the Child & Youth Programs staff. These 4-H volunteers collaborate with Camden County UGA Extension Faculty members to develop age appropriate, positive youth development programs for youth ages 9-19. Kings Bay 4-H is the first Military 4-H Club in Georgia to implement the Garden Earth Naturalist programming, a hands on approach to environmental sciences which involves both youth and families and is one of many reasons the Club was chosen by State 4-H Faculty as the Military Club of the Year.

A celebration was planned to announce the Military Club of the Year at the Kings Bay Youth Center on 10 June 2009 at 0930.

"The base youth center has implemented 4-H programs on life skill development, community service, photography and environmental education," said Amber Defore, Camden County 4-H agent. "Georgia 4-H is part of the worlds largest youth development organization with 6.5 million youth worldwide, and we are active in every country developing leadership, inspiring citizenship and enhancing knowledge in agriculture."

The University of Georgia and Ft. Valley State University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and counties of the state cooperating. The Cooperative Extension Service offers educational programs, assistance and materials to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, age, sex or disability. An equal opportunity/affirmative action organization committed to a diverse work force.