[ March 14, 2022 ] It is the season for District Project Achievement (DPA) for 4-Hers from all over the state and Pickens County 4-Hers went to not only do well, but to break records! On March 4th, 350 youth from the Northeast District in grades 7-12 arrived at Rock Eagle ready to participate in this competition in various project areas.

We had 4-Hers in the Junior Division which is 7th and 8th grade and 4-Hers in the Senior Division which is 8-12th grades. Our children represented Pickens County well with every single 4-Her placing first in the district! Our county even received the award for the highest percentage of winners in the district. 4-H volunteer Melvina Carlan said, "We expected excellence and we got it! Our 4-Hers are great!"

Representing Pickens Junior High School in 7th grade was Sarahi Flores in Textiles, Merchandising, and Interiors; Sheila Flores in Crafts. 8th grade was represented by Reese Davis in Outdoor Recreation, Dylan Lo in Robotics, and Micah Newton in Engineering and Mechanics. Pickens High School was represented by 10th grader Ryan Johnson in Food for Health and Sport. Finally, Molly Hooker, 9th grader representing youth in our community that are home schooled, was in the Festive Foods for Health category where hands on cooking is required.

In the senior division, 4-hers all over the state have the goal of becoming a Master 4-Her, state winner, which is the highest honor you can receive in 4-H Project Achievement. This year, our two seniors, Molly Hooker and Ryan Johnson, both won first place and are headed to the state competition this summer with the chance of becoming a Master 4-her. This is the first time in Pickens County that we have had 4-Hers qualify to continue to the state competition in 6 years!

To get a better picture of what these wins mean, you must understand that this one contest is a culmination of a year of hard work that ends in a presentation of the 4-Hers expertise in their chosen area of interest. The first portion is a portfolio which is like a resume. The record of all the 4-Her?s work during the past year is compiled into this one document. It includes activities they did in their chosen project, interviews, and tours they did to learn more about their project area, and how they taught or presented this to others. It also includes all the community service, leadership activities, and other 4-H events that they participated in. This score constitutes 50% of their total score.

The second portion is their presentation that they do at Rock Eagle. Here they present a demonstration lasting approximately 8-10 minutes. These students have been working for the last couple of months memorizing these presentations and preparing for experts to question them on the subject matter. This is the remaining half of a 4-Her?s total score. Therefore, these were not easy wins; just well deserved. 4-H volunteer Traci Buckingham said, "I was sitting in one room with youth from 7th-12th grade and when our 7th grader started speaking, I looked around to see shock on the older kids? faces. I found it amusing that this little dynamo had the older kids with their mouths hanging open in amazement!"

We are very thankful for all the support we received along the way. We have had such great responses from local businesses even though we had to interrupt their busy days for tours and interviews. We are very thankful for those who came for our Mock DPA practice and helped give our 4-Hers a chance to practice in front of them, get experience with being questioned about their project, and a chance to get those last-minute jitters and mistakes out of the way before competition.

We are especially grateful for the help from culinary experts that spent time with our seniors. Hans Reuffert and Sue Gibbons were especially helpful in this area. Stacy Mullins of Shake Bone Flowers also deserves a round of applause for the beautiful job she did on the flower arrangement that she donated for Molly's project.

Finally, a thank you goes to our volunteers Crystal Buckingham, Traci Buckingham, and Melvina Carlan for making the trip to Rock Eagle and being there to cheer them on, transporting them from place to place to make sure they were on time, and even doing the girls hair last minute!

We are also thankful for the parents of the 4-Hers who encouraged them to continue especially when it got tough to juggle all the demands of school, family and 4-H. Reese Davis is the daughter of Robert and Courtney Davis. Sheila and Sarahi Flores are the daughters of David Flores and Cristina Contreras. Molly Hooker is the daughter of Clint and Julie Hooker. Ryan Johnson is the son of James and Debra Johnson. Dylan Lo is the son of John and Amanda Lo. Micah Newton is the son of Matthew and Krista Newton.

Participation in this competition, results in various Learning Outcomes. 4-Hers acquire an understanding of a subject matter in a given project area, develop skills in researching, assembling, and presenting information. They also develop and enhance qualities of integrity, sportsmanship, cooperation, and self-confidence. They develop skills in leadership, service and communication. They develop skills in planning and conducting leadership and service activities. Finally, they prepare written information highlighting personal accomplishments in project work, leadership & service. These meet many of the Georgia Educational Standards, prepare these youth to become successful in business, and to become future leaders in our community.

For Pickens 4-H staff and volunteers there is no time to rest. 4th-6th graders will compete in Cloverleaf DPA at Union County Middle School this weekend. To discover more about our local 4-H program and all that it offers, feel free to call the Pickens County Extension office at 706-253-8840. You can also check out our Facebook page at Georgia 4-H Pickens County. With projects are offered in more than 50 different areas with nearly every topic of interest or educational area available for exploration and presentation, we can help your child find a place where they best fit.