Many Schools Take Part in 4-H Achievement Day in St. Ann

More than 30 schools participated in the St. Ann Parish 4-H Clubs annual Achievement Day, which was held on April 4 at the Discovery Bay all-age School. The event was staged under the theme: ‘Creating Wealth through Youth Development’.
Field Service and Economic Development Manager of the 4-H clubs, Linton Barnes told JIS News that the 4-H Parish Achievement Days were in progress across the island, and should be completed by April 12, the final date of the competition at the parish level.
“The Parish Achievement Days that I have been to so far have been well supported,” he said, noting that the displays at the St. Ann Achievement Day were very good.
“What is encouraging is the number of clubs having agricultural displays, both in mature crops as well as crops such as tomato, cucumber and cabbage in pots,” he said, pointing out that the Jamaica 4-H movement endorsed organic farming.
Highlighting some of the programmes of the 4-H Clubs, Mr. Barnes said they included Home Economics, Craft, Environmental Management, Leadership Development and Agriculture, among others.
“Currently, at the Denbigh 4-H Training Centre we have a tractor driving, maintenance and operation course going on and the students are doing very well.We have trained a number of students and as soon as they complete the training they gain employment because the market is there,” he said.
He further informed that a Home Economics course was also on-going at the facility and they have been getting excellent results from the training, adding that the participants were competent for employment due to the level of training they received at the centre.
Mr. Barnes is appealing to young persons across the island to become involved in the 4-H movement and benefit from what the organization has to offer.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the St. Ann 4-H Advisory Council, Rudolph Bailey, told JIS News that the 4-H clubs in the parish have been doing well and that they were expecting great things from their involvement at the national level this year.
“We were awarded eighth place at the National Achievement Day Competition at Denbigh last year and this year we are going with the intention to secure an even better position and make our parish proud,” he said.
The 4-H National Achievement Day competition will be held at the Denbigh 4-H Training Centre on April 27 and April 28.