Upcoming 4-H Military Youth and Staff Events

Georgia is home to many military installations, six of which have Child & Youth Services offices or Family Member Programs offices. These six installations actively participate in 4-H programming as part of the 4-H/Military Partnership. The following counties work with installations based in their county:

Counties with Installation-Based Programs

Installation	County
Fort Benning	Muscogee County
Fort Gordon	Richmond County and Columbia County
Fort Stewart	Liberty County
Hunter Army Airfield	Chatham County
Moody Air Force Base	Lanier and Lowndes County
Robins Air Force Base	Houston County

   

Georgia National Guard State Youth Program

All high school military dependents are welcome to join the Army National Guard Youth Program. The group meets virtually and face-to-face to support youth from all over Georgia with leadership, character, and personal skills. The Georgia National Guard Youth Program has various clubs that support member interests like movie creation and robotics. Program leaders are 4-H volunteer certified and are supported with 4-H professional development and curriculum. To learn how your high school military dependents can connect with other military youth contact Mark Richards at mark.d.richards17.nfg@mail.mil

National 4-H Week

It’s fair season in Georgia and around the country, which is a common time for 4-H’ers to show off their hard work, and creativity, and have fun!

Of course, this also is the time that we celebrate 4-H nationally! This year National 4-H Week will be October 1-7, 2023. The theme is “I love 4-H!” Installations, families, and youth are encouraged to connect with their local 4-H program to partner on activities for National 4-H Week.  Additional resources like social media images, flyers, radio PSAs, proclamations, and more are available.  There are lots of fun activities planned throughout October in addition to the designated timeframe. Join in on the fun!

Junior Conference

Junior Conference is a recreational and educational opportunity planned for 4-H’ers in the 6th through 8th grades. The weekend includes workshops and education sessions, along with opportunities for community service and exhibits planned by and led by the Junior Board of Directors. Recreational programs for 4-H’ers are included to allow 4-H’ers to interact with youth from all over Georgia. Educational workshops, community service, and recreation are led by high school-aged Teen Leaders.

Full-time registration is $90.00/participant and includes Saturday lunch and dinner, lodging, and Sunday breakfast. Families can register through their local UGA Extension Office, which commonly provides transportation to and from the event. If transportation is provided you might notice a slight difference in price to account for fuel cost.  Not sure how to find your local office? View the following link to find your county and then view the local website for contact, address, and resources. https://extension.uga.edu/county-offices.html

4-H Military Kids Club

Open to All Ages Bi-Monthly Are you a military family with children who live or go to school in Columbia or Richmond County? Do you enjoy working with veterans in your community & socializing with other military families? Would you enjoy the opportunity to participate in activities focused on topics specific to the needs of military kids and their families? If you answered YES to these questions, the 4-H Military Kids Club is for you or your children! This club is open to all ages When: Monthly Who: Military dependents of active and retired, all students welcome! Location: Columbia County UGA Extension Office Reach out to Columbia County UGA Extension to learn more at 706-541-4011 or email Mrs. Ketcham at brianna.ketcham@uga.edu.

Camp

Check out our 4-H Military Camp page to learn about upcoming military-specific camp opportunities. Camp webpages are generally updated by February with upcoming camp information. In the Fall guest can review previous summer camps to learn about possible opportunities for the upcoming year.  Also, reach out to your local 4-H County Extension Office to learn about local and state 4-H camp opportunities.

   

4-H Military Partners Virtual Conference:  Registration Open

Did you miss the conference that occurred in August 2023? No worries, engage with content anytime before July 1, 2024, for free by registering today.  The conference includes keynote speaker, Shannon McKain, and workshops on a variety of topics like food security, failure, and supporting youth emotions. There is also a panel discussion with 4-H military-connected youth and micro-learning short videos. Registration is at no cost. Join others in Extension and military service child and youth programs.

Learn more and register:https://www.4-hmilitarypartnership.org/4-h-military-partners-conference.html

4-H Military Partners Virtual Conference:  Registration Open

The 4-H Military Partnership Leadership Academy supports Extension professionals working with military-connected youth as they understand themselves as leaders, understand others as leaders of an organization, and understand leadership at the community level. The focus connects leadership concepts to work with military-connected audiences and increases the participants’ capacity to enhance programming across the enterprise.  Applications are open through September 15.

Third Thursdays Together

Join staff and volunteers working with military-connected youth in 4-H programming for our Third Thursday Together webinar series.  Each third Thursday at 2 p.m. EST we will offer a different session on trends and issues in positive youth development to the curriculum from the authors.  Preregistration is required (and at no cost) to access the session in real-time. Recordings are available the week following the session (or sooner) and linked below the session. We are also looking for topics and presenters for future Third Thursday programs. Send a brief description of your presentation topic and a little about you (and your fellow presenters) to  4-hcyfarmp-pdta@ncsu.edu for consideration. All sessions should be appropriate for military-connected youth and focus on trends and topics in positive youth development or curriculum available for 4-H programming.

Preview former educational opportunities kicking off the series in the PDF flyer:

Thrive Educational Series_Flyer

Register for the Third Thursday sessions at the 4-H Military Partnership website:

https://www.4-hmilitarypartnership.org/third-thursday-together.html

OneOP Professional Learning Opportunities

OneOp supports DoD’s Military Family Readiness System by growing the professional knowledge, readiness, and networks of the service providers supporting our military service members and their families. OneOp provides free and open-access resources created in collaboration with DoD and university subject matter experts and offers continuing education credits spanning a wide variety of subject areas and credentialing agencies.

Learn about the upcoming learning opportunities https://oneop.org/allevents/

Active-Duty Army CYS Grant Opportunity

 

In 2023 the Army released the below funding opportunity. Army installation partners, please stay tuned for 2024 funding and reach out to Georgia 4-H if you need support with understanding the application process. 2023 details are below to support your ability to prepare. 

This opportunity is for Active-Duty garrisons to apply for funding to enhance 4-H programming at their Centers and for Army CYS professionals to attend 4-H-related professional development. The application announcement and form is below. 4-H Educators and Garrison staff are encouraged to connect to determine 4-H needs and ideas. This is a great opportunity to strengthen local 4-H support. Army-CYS-Grant-Application-with-Link-10.31

The KSU 4-H Miltiary team managing the application process has already received several applications. I encourage Army Garrisons to review and submit a plan for support. KSU will (very soon) announce the 1^st round selections; however, they will also continue to accept applications until all available funding has been exhausted.

Questions about this funding opportunity can be directed to Jessica Partida at jpartida@ksu.edu. If you are trying to consider partnership ideas, 4-H needs, or the like within Georgia please connect with Laura Goss at laurwalt@uga.edu.

Hoke Smith Annex University of Georgia Athens, GA 30602 Phone:706-542-4444 Fax: 706-542-4373 milcamps@uga.edu