Our Impact
Making A Difference in Our County
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension is working hard for its constituents. The following are examples of Extension’s impact in the county over the past year.
4-H Youth Development
Eighteen of the twenty three elementary schools in Forsyth County have some sort of school garden, and many teachers wanted to begin taking advantage of these spaces as they began to return to normal operations during the 2021-22 school year. As more teachers reached out to the local Extension office for help, it became clear that there was a need in the community for school gardening lessons. Extension faculty and staff members began researching and redeveloping existing school gardening lessons to help them better align with current standards. Lessons were delivered monthly to 418 students and 2 elementary schools. Topics covered during the school year included garden planning, soil health, insects, and diseases. In their end of the year survey, a teacher from Whitlow Elementary School stated that, the local Extension / 4-H program “strongly supported [their] work at Whitlow with [their] TGAL Pollinator Garden” and assisted in helping the school with its GA STEM recertification.
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Agriculture is Georgia’s No. 1 industry, but 44% of Georgia farmers have less than $2,500 in annual sales. New and beginning farmers face several business start-up and production sustainability challenges. Through the Forsyth/Fulton County Journeyman Farmer Certificate Program, participants learned and applied five basic business practices and six key production concepts to their enterprises within five months of completing the 11-week training. One new farmer stated, “My entire way of farming has changed, from seed selection, to crop planning and rotation, to pest management, to harvesting,” and another stated, “I have a more in-depth knowledge of the whole system of farming.”
Forsyth County Extension Volunteers
The Forsyth County Extension Volunteers expanded the education and program reach of Forsyth County Extension by leading and teaching enrichment programs for youth and adult audiences. In 2023, trained teams of Master Gardener and Master Naturalist volunteers taught 30 public classes in sustainable landscapes, endangered species, native plants, pollinators and wildlife, home gardening, and other topics. they also participated in community events such as Arbor Day, Earth Day, and Enchanted Halloween, providing research-based information to over 600 county residents through short, high-interest activities.