On April 3, 2018, 68 middle school 4-H’ers, agents and volunteers embarked upon an environmental adventure. The group traveled to Camp Jekyll 4-H Center on Jekyll Island Georgia. Camp Jekyll offers education and summer camp programs through Georgia 4-H, and the oceanfront campus is also available to youth groups and camps for private rentals.  The Georgia 4-H Environmental Education Program at Camp Jekyll is administered by UGA Extension on Jekyll Island.  Camp Jekyll is located on 10 acres on the south end of Jekyll Island, Georgia between the beach and maritime forest and uses the entire island as an outdoor classroom. 

The 4-H’ers took the following classes:  Beach Ecology where they examined barrier island dynamics, erosion, and accretion. Other topics include the organisms that are found on the beach, importance of the dunes, and dune plants; Seining and Nets where students  used a seine net to capture organisms in the surf. Concepts included animal adaptations and identification; Night Hike which was a quiet walk done in teaching groups incorporating various sensory activities and beach exploration at night with the addition of a bit of Astrology; Saltwater Fishing - This class introduced students to fishing, including skills and sustainable catches. This class was complemented with a day elective where students experienced saltwater surf fishing firsthand with their own rod and reel; Snakes and Reptiles - Students received a hands-on experience with snakes, while learning conservation issues. The class also discussed snakes indigenous to southeast Georgia and common misconceptions, physical characteristics, etc.;  Marsh Walk – A study of the salt marsh. Concepts included major plants (Spartina), marsh animals (fiddler crabs, mussels, and birds), additional concepts such as food webs and tides are discussed; Maritime Forest Hike- A study of the process of succession from the beach into the mature maritime forest. Class also includes discussion of major animals and plants, the importance of freshwater sloughs, and decomposers of the forest and a trip to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. The students received approximately 12 hours of environmental education.

For the 4-H’ers, 100% stated this was an incredible, educational experience unlike anything they had ever experienced. For young people from Kentucky, the opportunity to study an environment so unlike where they lived, was great!