Story in Brief
To increase the knowledge of civic engagement and community service in Oconee's youth, the UGA Cooperative Extension agent developed activities to expose 4-H'ers and other youth to this concept. Civic engagement involves community service, political activism, environmentalism, and other volunteer activities that provide services to community residents. The 4-H agent helped youth participate in citizenship opportunities each month. They included Cooking with Care, a program that makes a meal from scratch and then donates the meal to a foster family in the county; Road Clean Up, in which 4-H youth assist in keeping the road clean and free of litter in an effort to promote county beautification; and Magnolia Friends, when 4-H youth visit a local nursing home to play games, create art projects and visit with the residents. The Georgia Civic Awareness Program for Students is a program for students in the 11th and 12th grades that offers youth the opportunity to learn more about local and state government. Since 2008, 948 4-H youth have participated in Road Clean Up, Cooking with Care and Magnolia Estates throughout the school year. A total of 77 4-H'ers rang the Salvation Army bell during the holidays in December and 86 students raised money for charity at the annual 4-H Fun-A-Thon. Nearly 100 11th and 12th grade students completed GCAPS. While participating in the program, students were educated about the importance of being actively conscious of their local government environment and the opportunities available in the public sector.