Georgia 4-H Program at Georgia Cyber Academy

Summary

Georgia 4-H is providing online and in-person learning opportunities for students of the Georgia Cyber Academy.

Situation

Georgia Cyber Academy serves 6000 K-9th grade students in an online learning environment. As going to school virtually becomes a more mainstream method of education, there are thousands of children who may not otherwise have access to 4-H like more traditional students of “brick and mortar” schools who often see 4-H Professionals enter their classrooms monthly.

Response

During late 2009, a new partnership was developed between Georgia 4-H and the Georgia Cyber Academy. The partnership was initiated when a GCA teacher contacted Georgia 4-H and requested a “virtual” 4-H club to be offered to their students. A small team of Georgia 4-H State Staff members (Melanie Biersmith, Lori Bledsoe, and Arch Smith) met with the teacher and began the conversation of how we could respond to this request. After a several more correspondences, Georgia 4-H was invited to present at the GCA quarterly face-to-face faculty meeting. We were allowed approximately 45 minutes to speak to over 100 teachers and administrators from GCA to introduce Georgia 4-H, our programs, and what a virtual 4-H club might look like. The information was well-received by the GCA faculty and plans continued for the first ever virtual 4-H club. By the close of 2009, dates were set for monthly club meetings for the remainder of the 2009-10 school year and topics were selected for each monthly meeting. We also created an Issue Team of ten 4-H Agents to work with us as we grow the partnership. This innovative partnership between Georgia 4-H and GCA will allow students who are not currently served by traditional in-school programming the opportunity to participate in 4-H and will also allow them to learn more about additional experiences offered through their local County 4-H program.

Impact

For the 2010-2011 school year, monthly meeting dates have been set and 4-H County and State Professionals are delivering two club meetings a month (one Cloverleaf meeting, one Junior meeting) to an audience of approximately 5-25 4-Hers in each. GCA students have successfully have elected one GCA Cloverleaf 4-H Officer and one GCA Junior 4-H Officer to provide youth leadership of the GCA 4-H Club. We are currently advertising a face to face learning opportunity for GCA students at Rock Eagle 4-H Center to be held on December 3rd. The parent organization of Georgia Cyber Academy, K12, is interested in a national partnership with 4-H and is currently using our work in Georgia as a model.

State Issue

Positive Development for Individuals, Families and Communities

Details

• Year: 2010
• Geographic Scope: State
• County: Putnam
• Program Areas:
  • 4-H Youth