The Paulding County 4-H Poultry Judging team recently competed at one of the Northwest District Poultry Judging Competitions in Gordon County, Calhoun, Georgia. The team consisted of Junior and Senior 4-H’ers who spent 11 weeks preparing for the competition. Participants judge both live specimens and market poultry, identify parts of birds already prepared for market, and evaluate eggs for their quality and readiness for market.

Paulding County Cloverleaf 4-H’ers traveled to Seven Springs Church in Lithia Springs, Georgia to compete at the County Project Achievement (CPA) competition. There were 49 students that competed at the 1st ever county-level event. Each student presented in 1 of 34 categories for their specific program areas.

Paulding County 4-H is extremely grateful for the opportunity to work with such an amazing school district that helps to promote the growth of the 4-H program.

4-H helps young people experience: An increased desire to make a difference in their communities, high levels of leadership, self-esteem, public speaking, communication and planning skills, improved school performance, motivation to help others, and an overall improvement in civic identity and civic engagement.

A Dean’s Award is presented every year in each of the following five main project areas: Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (including STEM); Civic Engagement and Citizenship; Family and Consumer Sciences; William “Bill” Edwards Award for Communications and the Arts; and James Harris Award for Leadership. First place winners receive Master 4-H’er status, a $500 scholarship, and recognition at the Georgia 4-H Day at the Capitol. It is a pleasure to announce that Paulding County 4-H’er, Juliette McKinley, was selected from a crowded field as the 2020 Dean’s Awards recipient for Civic Engagement and Citizenship.

Madison Clemente was recently awarded the Paulding County Master Gardener Extension Volunteers 2020 Scholarship. Madison will attend the University of North Georgia in the fall working towards a degree in Agricultural Communication.

Each year, Master Gardener Extension Volunteers in Paulding offer a local scholarship, available to Paulding County residents that are incoming freshmen or students attending post-secondary accredited institutions. The group gives first consideration to Paulding County students in the following fields of study: Agriculture, Horticulture, Landscaping, Forestry, Botany, and Biology and students who are Paulding County Senior 4-H’ers.

Paulding County UGA Extension Master Gardener Volunteers recently recognized Christen Thomas as Paulding County Master Gardener of the Year as well as the Robert Cabrera of Keep Paulding Beautiful and Tom Liles of Paulding County High School FFA as the Friends of Master Gardeners at their Annual New Beginnings Celebration Dinner.

DALLAS, Ga. - On Jan. 25, Paulding County Cloverleaf 4-H’ers traveled to Georgia Highlands College in Rome, Georgia to compete at District Project Achievement (DPA). There were 11 counties represented at the event and a total of 554 students competed.

The Paulding County 4-H Forestry Judging team recently competed at the Northwest District Forestry Judging Competition in Conyers, Georgia. The team consisted of Junior and Senior 4-H’ers who spent 8 weeks preparing for the competition by learning to identify seventy-five Georgia trees, forty diseases, and insects of forest trees and learning how to conduct wood volume estimation and orienteering in forest stands.