Despite strong competition from several schools, Oak Hill Elementary again topped the charts in Newton 4-H this year.

They had 100 percent participation in project achievement in club meetings, with every student presenting a four to six minute demonstration.

The four clubs at Oak Hill also had the highest participation on County Project Achievement and District Project Achievement, earning them school of the year honors for the ninth consecutive year.

Kohls Cares, the outreach program of our local Kohls department store in Conyers, and the Newton 4-H Health Rocks! team honored Oak Hill students and teachers last week to “Go Greek With Kohls” and have “Less Stress on the Test with 4-H Health Rocks!”

Students made over 100 holiday cards for the veteran’s hospital in Decatur, developed team building and communication skills in team challenges, cleaned litter from the Oak Hill campus, and explored stress relief techniques.

4-H Health Rocks! state ambassadors Kacie Gartner, Kara Gartner and Kayla Gartner of Liberty Middle led the stress relief activities with all fifth grade students at the school with the support of volunteer leader Sandra Gartner.

4-H Banquet and silent auction
All 4-H’ers who competed with Newton 4-H this year in project achievement, judging teams or other district and state competitions will be honored on May 16 at the annual 4-H banquet.
Silent auction items are needed for the event, and may be donated at the office or by calling 770-784-2010.
Tickets to the banquet and auction area available for $10 and include dinner at the FFA-FCCLA Center.

Poultry Judging
The Newton County 4-H Poultry Judging team placed seventh out of 18 teams at district competition.
MaKenzy McCord, a home school 4-H’er, placed eleventh out of all 124 junior competitors.
Kara Gartner ranked number 20, while Kacie Gartner placed 42nd. The Gartners are eighth graders at Liberty Middle.

Kayla Gartner, a seventh grader at Liberty Middle, placed 52nd out of all individuals.
All four team members scored perfect or nearly perfect when placing both classes of laying hens in order of past production.

They also all scored nearly perfect in grading eggs for both exterior quality and broken out quality.
The team was coached by county extension agent Ted Wynne. Volunteer leaders Jamie McCord and Sandra Gartner served as chaperones.

Georgia 4-H Health Rocks! Training
Eastside High Junior Michelle Lewis was named as a Georgia Health Rocks! leader this year, where she has the opportunity to train and lead this statewide ambassador program.

Newton County’s state ambassadors this year are MaKenzy McCord from home school, and Kacie Gartner, Kara Gartner and Kayla Gartner, all of Liberty Middle.

Adult partners are volunteer leaders Colleen Lewis, Jamie McCord and Sandra Gartner.

The team is planning a 4-H Health Rocks! Day Camp on June 3-7, 2013, for youth age 9 and up.
To be the first to receive information when registration opens, email tkimble@uga.edu.

The ambassadors, along with county teen leaders, will teach Health Rocks curriculum to the YMCA day camp program and the PATH program at Riverside Estates all summer.

State BB Tournament
Kacie Gartner, Liberty Middle School, shot a 407; Reilly Cummings, home school, scored 402; James Taylor Booth, Newton County Theme School, scored 401; and MaKenzy McCord, home school, shot a 393 at the State BB Tournament.

Only 564 4-H’ers qualified for the tournament statewide.

They were coached by volunteer leaders Scott McCord and Eric Cummings.

Livestock Judging
The livestock judging team judged hogs, cattle, lambs and goats at the state competition in Athens last month.
Team members included Anastasia Cannon, sixth grade, Shae Cannon, fifth grade, and MaKenzy McCord, eighth grade, all of home school.

Kacie Gartner, eighth grade, Kara Gartner, eighth grade, and Kayla Gartner, seventh grade, all of Liberty Middle, were also on the team.

Senior 4-H Conference and Prom
Bradford Porter, a junior at Newton High, and Mallori Johnson, an Eastside High sophomore, took part in Senior 4-H Conference at Rock Eagle 4-H Center this month.

The record-breaking conference included sessions on etiquette, internet communications, dressing for success and ballroom dancing.

Senior 4-H Conference also included the first-ever 4-H prom.

Terri Kimble is the Newton County 4-H Agent through UGA Cooperative Extension. She can be reached at 770-784-2010 or tkimble@uga.edu.