Dressed in cotton products with various themed cotton commercials and ready to test their knowledge in consumer trends, Effingham County 4-H members excelled at the Cotton Boll and Consumer Jamboree competition.

The annual competition held at Georgia Southern University is sponsored by the Georgia Cotton Commission and University of Georgia Extension.

During practices and preparation for the contest, students learned skills in reasoning, concentration and decision-making. They learned the importance of cotton as an agriculture commodity and how to be responsible consumers with an understanding of the rights and responsibilities of the consumer, business and government.

The 4-H Cotton Boll and Consumer Jamboree featured two facets of competition. In the first, Senior 4-H’ers (grades ninth-12th) presented a 90-second public service announcement on cotton and Junior 4-H’ers (grades fifth-eighth) prepared a poster to promote cotton in their 30-second cotton commercial.

The second facet of competition included a test of consumer knowledge by ranking four classes of various scenarios and communicating the reasons for choices made. The competition proved to be entertaining, as well as educational.

Through these “judging evaluation experiences,” Effingham County 4-H’ers are being taught life skills of decision-making, critical thinking and public speaking. Effingham 4-H offers a variety of opportunities for youth to develop workforce competencies such as communication, teamwork, leadership, responsibility and preparedness.