Cooper Smith sat at home before his computer screen as part of a virtual small-group meeting with the Etowah County 4-H Youth Council. A seventh-grader at Hokes Bluff Middle School, Cooper was attending his first meeting as a member of the Etowah County 4-H Youth Council, and even though it was a virtual small-group meeting, he was excited.
His group leader, Jacob Hodes, explained that they were looking for ways to hold their end-of-year 4-H banquet, which had been canceled because of COVID-19. Jacob asked the group to brainstorm ways that 300 people might socially distance, yet safely celebrate the accomplishments of all Etowah County 4-H’ers.