The State 4-H Congress Competition, held July 18-21 in Atlanta, decided the best in the state in 4-H, and Fayette County joined that circle of winners this year.

April Ford, daughter of John and Dianne Ford and honor student at McIntosh High School, won first in the state in the Housing and Development project. Being named a winner means that Ford has earned the much coveted status of Master 4-H’er and the privilege of attending the National 4-H Congress this fall. This honor highlights three years of hard work, including meeting with the president of the Homebuilders Association and the Universal Design Alliance, touring handicapped-accessible homes, and hours of research on the benefit and necessity of easy living homes.

Saikat Karmakar, son of Satyajit and Sikha Karmakar, also competed at State 4-H Congress in the Performing Arts – Other Instrumental project, in which he played the violin. In addition to playing his instrument, Karmakar has been a teen leader at numerous local, district, and state 4-H events and is an honor student at Fayette County High School.

State Congress is the culmination of a year’s work in a 4-H project. Four H-ers select a project area, prepare portfolios of their project work, participate in interviews and present their information in front of judges. Final scores are determined by their subject knowledge and speech delivery, combined with their portfolio quality. In addition to presenting their project information, 4-H’ers also get to meet project donors and tour their businesses, meet legislators, go to Six Flags and attend several banquets throughout the week.

Attending State 4-H Congress with the 4-H’ers was volunteer Dianne Ford. For more information about the 4-H program in Fayette County, contact the County Extension Office at 770-460-5730, ext. 5412.

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