Franklin County Extension Service is more than just contests

Franklin County Extension Coordinator Katernia Cole said she grew up as a 4-H kid and everything she learned along the way has helped her get to where she is today.

She knows the importance of learning when the opportunity is given.

“When we have an audience, when we go into these schools and we are in front of these children, we need to teach,” Cole said. “The projects and the events that we host are great for kids to participate in with their family and friends and community members, but we need to take advantage of the audiences we have and teach them things that they can take with them for the rest of their lives.”

Cole and the County Extension Services are not the only group trying to broaden students’ horizons in the area.

Last week we featured the CHOICES program that Russellville Middle School hosted and how the community plays a role in helping students get on the right track early in life. Next week we will be featuring the Franklin County Career Technical Center and all the various opportunities that is affords students in the area.

Cole said she and her staff have been talking to fourth, fifth and sixth grade students about careers.

“You really can’t start early enough preparing these students for their futures,” Cole said. “It is important to spark an interest in them early and show them the paths they can take to get there.”

Cole said she was recently at Tharptown High School talking to the students about the numerous opportunities there are in the field of agriculture.

“There are over 200 agriculture-based jobs and opportunities out there for students to pursue,” Cole said. “There are only 10 percent of Americans involved in traditional farming such as row crops or livestock. But there is so much more involved with agriculture—Parks and Recreation departments, fisheries, animal sciences—they all benefit from someone who comes from an agricultural background.”

Cole said she often stresses the need for students to start working on and developing their communication skills.

“We are all aware of how students like to keep their heads down, on their phones, but we need to start making them aware of the need for good communication skills.

“I tell them to picture a tennis match. In a job interview someone is going to hit the ball to them as a question and they are going to have to be confident that they can hit the ball back—an answer,” Cole said.

Cole said she knows that some students might not pick up some of the skills at home that they will need going forward.

“I’ve watched these students and I’ve seen in the school setting that some of these kids aren’t getting what they need outside of school,” Cole said. “I need to teach them something that they can take with them when they leave that day. And hopefully that might spark an interest in them.”

Cole said 4-H is more than just agriculture clubs and events these days.

“We have to help prepare students for their futures,” Cole said. “We need to give them a glimpse of all their options and maybe help them find something that they enjoy doing and can continue to do as a career going forward.

“Our teachers have the ability to spark a child’s interest in something they might have never thought about before. We’re more than ‘Extreme Birdhouses,’ or ‘Project Green thumb.’ We try and create leaders and people who will try and help others and get people in the county involved,” Cole said.

Careers in agriculture are more diverse than most people think, Cole said.

“The most obvious careers are directly related to the farm or the ranch, but only 10 percent of Americans are involved with traditional farming,” Cole said. “There are approximately 22 million people who work in agriculture related fields and unlike the agriculture of our grandparents’ day, today’s agriculture offers many diverse options.”

Cole said careers in agriculture today could be divided into categories such as agribusiness and management, agricultural and natural resources communications, building construction management, agri-science, resource development and management, parks and recreation, tourism resources, packaging, horticulture, forestry, food science, and fisheries and wildlife.

Cole and her staff also provide activities and projects for students in the county. Pig Squeal and Chick Chain are ongoing projects right now with Chick Chain finishing in September with an auction of the student-raised chickens at the North Alabama State Fairgrounds in Muscle Shoals, Ala.

“The shooting sports kind of died out in the early 2000s and we are trying to revamp all of that now,” Cole said. “It is hard to revamp a program once it dies out or popularity goes away, but we are trying to bring back a lot of things.

“Shirley Jiminez is with my office and she does a lot of sewing and we want to offer that to students in the area who don’t have access to a traditional home economics type of class,” Cole said.

Some of the upcoming events for the Extension Services office and 4-H include the Choose My Plate program where students learn about portions and ingredients as well as where there food comes from.  Healthy Living for Life is an exhibit coming to schools in April where students will discuss food, nutrition and health. Project Green Thumb is an event where students will learn how to practice good science that is important to soil and plants.

For more information about the Franklin County Extension or 4-H, call their offices at 256-332-8880.