Kenton County • 2019 4-H Youth Development The Kenton County 4-H Agent works closely with local school teachers to identify needs for experiential learning in science that fulfills state academic standards. 4-H collaborated with 10 teachers from 4 school districts. 950 students in kindergarten through 6th grade participated in guided hands-on science investigations. Students identified needs for living things, recorded the lifecycle stages of butterflies, and discovered the responsibility of caring for living things. Students cleaned the habitats, cared for the caterpillars, and learned that butterflies could suffer from a virus like humans. Teachers reported that students expanded their vocabulary, distinguished moths from butterflies and the pupae of different butterflies, and differentiated between male and female monarch butterflies. In addition, 4-H volunteers helped to locate, cut and deliver milkweed to the classroom habitats. One family who helped collect milkweed for an observation station reported that their great uncle stopped mowing the milkweed in a field to ensure adequate milkweed was available to feed the caterpillars at a local school. For More Information, Please Contact us at: Kenton County Extension Office • (859) 356-3155 • [email protected]10990 Marshall Rd., Covington, KY 41015 Kenton County opened their new satellite office this fall at 450 Kenton Lands Road
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Kenton County • 2019
4-H Youth Development
The Kenton County 4-H Agent works closely with local school teachers to identify needs for experiential learning in science that fulfills state academic standards. 4-H collaborated with 10 teachers from 4 school districts. 950 students in kindergarten through 6th grade participated in guided hands-on science investigations. Students identified needs for living things, recorded the lifecycle stages of butterflies, and discovered the responsibility of caring for living things.
Students cleaned the habitats, cared for the caterpillars, and learned that butterflies could suffer from a virus like humans. Teachers reported that students expanded their vocabulary, distinguished moths from butterflies and the pupae of different butterflies, and differentiated between male and female monarch butterflies. In addition, 4-H volunteers helped to locate, cut and deliver milkweed to the classroom habitats. One family who helped collect milkweed for an observation station reported that their great uncle stopped mowing the milkweed in a field to ensure adequate milkweed was available to feed the caterpillars at a local school.
Kenton County opened their new satellite office this fall at 450 Kenton Lands Road Kenton County opened their new satellite office this fall at 450 Kenton Lands Road
4-H Consumer & Financial Education
Tough economic times increase awareness of the need for financial knowledge. Extension advisory groups and county surveys have identified financial life skills as essential for youth but lacking for many young people. The 4-H Youth Development agent offered three different programs to help youth increase financial knowledge and develop good fiscal habits. Nearly 540 elementary and middle school youth participated in 4-H hands-on lessons in Spend, Save or Share, 4-H Money Sen$e, or Consumer Savvy. Youth learned an economic decision making process, comparison shopping or finding price per unit. Each participant put their knowledge to practice to purchase a consumer product, write a narrative, and create a poster explaining their decisions. 216 posters were submitted for county fair judging. Youth expressed how much they learned about spending money wisely by making informed decisions. Teachers reported, “I really feel like the 4-H program is what made my students proficient in economics.”
Alternative School Cooking Class
Alternative schools are essentially specialized experiences to provide academic instruction to students expelled or suspended for disruptive behavior or who are unable to succeed in the mainstream school
environment. While there is a great degree of variation among alternative schools, research demonstrates that the schools that succeed with this population of youth typically have Curriculum-based on real-life learning.
The Bartlett Educational Center in Erlanger/Elsmere School District is an Alternative school. 4-H partnered with the school counselor to provide real life learning through cooking classes. The 4-H cooking program met once a week and taught the youth basic cooking skills, gradually working toward more complicated cooking skills. By the end of the program the youth were able to take a basket of ingredients and produce a dinner using all of the skills they learned through the year. All of the youth stated they had cooked at home after taking the class and felt confident in cooking a variety of dishes.
Snap-Ed
Get Tips for Meal Planning and Saving Grocery Dollars Are you often wondering what to make for dinner and wishing your grocery bill was smaller? Join us for the Healthy Choices for Every Body series where you’ll get tips and resources for meal planning while learning how to save money on groceries. Sessions meet at different locations in Kenton county. Contact Dorisa, Angela, or Kelsey at 331-1712 to learn more about the Nutrition Education Program (NEP). Kelsey works with Spanish speaking particpants. For more recipes and kitchen tips, visit fb.com/nkynep.
Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS)
Preserving to Reduce Food Waste Research tells us that nearly one pound of food per person is wasted each day in America, with fruits and vegetables contributing to the most food wasted. Food waste comes at a cost to our environment, and our wallets. The study concluded that one approach to minimizing food waste is to educate consumers how to best prepare and store produce, as well as to encourage the use of alternative forms, such as frozen and dried. Considering this information, as well as client demand for more advanced food preservation workshops, the Kenton and Boone County Family and Consumer Sciences Agents developed a hands on class, “Freezing and
Vega Martinez proudly displays her
award-winning poster
Drying Foods”. The FCS Agents discussed, demonstrated, and led clients in activities where participants successfully prepared their food for drying and freezing at home. Participants also viewed previously dried and frozen foods, and discussed its characteristics, as well as potential problems. As a result of the workshop, participants reported learning what to consider when purchasing/using a food dehydrator, the correct way to handle and store home frozen and dried foods, the necessity of safely dehydrating jerky, and the importance of properly preparing foods before drying and freezing. Preparing for Weather Related Emergencies Many residents are not prepared for storms (tornado, flood, and hurricane) and the resulting loss of valuable property and financial records. The Kentucky State University Area Specialist for Family and Consumer Sciences along with Kenton County FCS Agent addressed this need for preparation with the class, “Are You Ready for an Emergency?” taught to residents. The class focused on making a family emergency kit, developing a family disaster plan, understanding warnings and typical disasters, and food safety during a storm. Participants discussed family communication as a primary component of the family emergency plan with ways to let members know the safety status of each other as a primary goal, as well as having a first-aid kit. The class stimulated conversation and planning needed to alleviate fear and loss in the event of a disaster.
Community Partnerships are Key The Kenton County Family and Consumer Sciences Agents formed a partnership with the Life Learning Center in Covington to teach Nutrition information and hands on food preparation skills to “at risk” individuals that are facing a multitude of challenges. Participants in the program face one or more of the following; difficult family situations, criminal backgrounds, limited education, unemployment/underemployment, as well as other serious threats to homelessness. Every sixteen weeks the agents teach the “cohorts” nutrition information regarding caloric and nutrient needs, food groups, how to read food labels, measuring techniques, cooking skills and stretching the food dollar. Through this class the participants learned to care for themselves and their family’s nutritional needs. Approximately 250 people have participated in the nutrition class since the partnership began. As a result of the long term commitment the Extension Service has dedicated to the Life Learning Center, the Family and Consumer Sciences agents were honored at the 2018 Partner Appreciation Breakfast as the Educational Partner of the Year.
Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR)
Marketing is Key The Kenton County Agriculture Leadership Class of 2018 determined that marketing locally grown agriculture products is a hurdle for most farm-to-consumer operations. During the 2018 class the participants did a preliminary study to determine how to create a publicity and marketing strategy to potentially increase sales off their farms. The Agriculture Extension Agent acted as facilitator of all aspects of this publicity campaign. He engaged a retired business development professional and now farmer to assist in the process and this volunteer coached the project through it’s entirety. In addition, the coach reached out to Northern Kentucky University’s public relations senior class. The retired business development coach said, “I have been really impressed on the great job done by the committee and the students that did the study.” This class and the professor took the Kenton County Farm Marketing project on as a final class project. After the presentation in December the Agriculture Agent organized a
Preparing produce for freezing and drying
meeting of the Ag Advisory Council, and interested farmers to present the final study of the project. As a result of the study a Kenton County agriculture products logo has been developed. The logo is being rolled out for local farm-to-consumer producer’s use as they sell products from their farms, to restaurants, or to farmer’s markets.
Horticulture
People want to take good care of their yards and gardens but may not know how. Extension Horticulture offered a shrub-pruning workshop last winter. Thirty-four participants learned the hows and whys of good pruning, which was taught indoors, followed by outdoor demonstrations. Participants also tried the pruning techniques right there on the grounds.
Comments afterwards included, “This is one of the best classes I’ve ever attended” and “Now I know what to do in my yard.” Class members appreciated knowing when to prune, what kinds of pruning cuts worked best, which tools to use, and how to prune different kinds of plants.
Class participants were surveyed during the summer to see how spring pruning went. Two -thirds said they pruned their shrubs after class. They re-shaped older shrubs in the yard, made heading and thinning cuts, and removed dead, broken or diseased wood—all important to know. Additional comments included, “Next winter I will look at my trees and figure out how pruning will improve their appearance and health.”
140 Number of producers who incorporated best practices recommended by Extension
42 Number of producers who reported saving money or reducing cost of operation
2276 Number of participants engaged in home and consumer horticulture programming
671 Number of hours volunteers spent training others on behalf of Extension
288 Number of individuals who practice personal and interpersonal leadership skills in clubs, schools and community outreach
70 Number of participants reporting behavior changes related to healthy, independent or quality aging
204 Number of people reporting improved lifestyles through a focus on proper nutrition, disease & injury reduction & comprehensive health maintenance
35 Number of parents and/or caregivers who practice one or more parental leadership skills
93 Number of individuals who identified one or more practices to improve disaster preparedness, pest management, going green, etc.
400 Number of youth that have confidence speaking in front of groups
346 Number of youth who understand the role of agriculture in the production of food and fiber
213 Number of youth reported being a better leader
