Albany native brings educational experience to Dougherty County 4-Hers

ALBANY – Nearly a quarter of a century after graduating from high school in Albany, Jennifer Edwards is coming full-circle, returning to her 4-H roots and bringing her years as an educator to the job.

Edwards, who graduated in 2000 from Monroe High School, took on the role as youth development agent in July with the Dougherty County Extension Office and is looking to inspire a future generation of students.

The veteran educator, who has taught in the elementary, middle, high school and college levels, introduced herself Monday to the Dougherty County Commission.

Growing the school program, which is open to students in grades 4-12, is one of her big goals, Edwards said during an interview following the commission session. Currently there are about 150 4-H members in Dougherty County and 240,0000 statewide.

Already, Edwards said she has reached out to students throughout the county, speaking to students enrolled in the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office’s C.H.A.M.P.S. (Conversation, Help, Activity, Movement, Participation and Success) program and at other venues looking to attract new students to 4-H.

“We know that 4-H is going to be expanding,” Edwards said. “I’m going to be going into elementary schools (teaching) science and English language arts. I think more students need to be introduced to 4-H and the curriculum it offers.”

Prior to taking on her new role, Edwards taught in the Terrell County, Coffee County and Dublin city school systems, and for the past two years she taught in the Dougherty County School System. She also taught chemistry for four years at Albany State University.

While 4-H is traditionally thought of as an agricultural club, there is much more to it than that, the youth development agent said.

During her sessions with students over the summer, she said she asked what programs they would be interested in being involved in, and the top one was robotics. Edwards said she plans to reach out to the Commodore Conyers College & Career Academy and Monroe High School in Albany to pursue more robotics activities for 4-H students.

Agriculture remains the state’s top industry, and today’s agricultural careers involve much more than driving a tractor.

Those careers include agribusiness and others that feature heavily in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) curriculum, Edwards said.

“I’m going to cater it to the needs of Dougherty County students,” she said. “I just want to expand the knowledge of the program so that more students have the opportunities to develop leadership skills and to experience things they have not experienced in this area by taking them to state events.”

Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]