Wayne County • 2019

Staff posing in front of the newly renovated office building

Extension Gets an Expansion in Wayne County

Under the direction of the District Board and Extension Council, the Wayne Co. Cooperative Extension Service underwent an expansion project. May Construction, located in Berea, KY, was awarded the bid to complete the project that began in October 2018. The project included expanding the building by 6500 square feet. The expansion included an elevator, two meeting rooms, an art classroom and a demonstration kitchen. The project was completed in May 2019 and is being used by community members and organizations.

For More Information, Please Contact us at:

Wayne County Extension Office • (606) 348-8453 • https://wayne.ca.uky.edu

255 Rolling Hills Blvd, Monticello, KY 42633

Pictured above (L-R): Joy McGinnis, Staff Assistant; Gaye Hutchison, EFNEP Assistant; Glen

Roberts, ANR Agent; Sherry Coffey, 4-H Assistant; Toni Humble, 4-H Agent; Cassie Lester, FCS

Assistant; Danny Adams, Small Farm Assistant; Seth Hart, Fine Arts Assistant; Diane Cushman,

Staff Assistant; Terry Bertram, ANR Assistant; Rachel Selvidge, Staff Assistant

Teen Cuisine

Wayne County Cooperative Extension was contacted by a local residential facility for juvenile females. The facility requested help with nutrition for females who would be aging out of the facility. The residents were to be prepared to go home or to a half-way house. All would be faced with more individualized choices as to their own health and nutrition. The Extension Agent for 4-H and the EFNEP Assistant partnered together and chose the curriculum "Teen Cuisine". Teen Cuisine consists of six lessons to be used with middle and high school aged youth to teach and encourage healthy eating behaviors and food preferences. Each lesson has a cooking component and two classes totaling 14 soon to be graduates were held during 2018. Post survey results show: 78% of the youth improved in their ability to choose foods according to the Federal Dietary Recommendations or gained knowledge. 71% of the youth improved their physical activity practices or gained knowledge. 87% of the youth showed improvements on safe food handling practices more often or gained knowledge.

Fine Arts

Fine Arts continue to thrive in Wayne County, offering creative and therapeutic venues for our Homemakers, 4-Hers and community. As

shown, program assistant Seth Hart instructs for one of our county’s two most popular programs including clay workshops and barn quilt painting as a way to recognize not only our local talent, but also the heritage of craftsmanship and practical skills. In addition, members of the 4-H Art Club take advantage of these projects to prepare artwork that qualifies for the state fair.

Eat Smart to Play Hard

The University of Kentucky and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension Services Office partnered with the Wayne County School System on getting the message out "Eat Smart to Play Hard."

Wally Cat traveled to all the elementary schools with the message "Eat Smart - Play Hard" and all elementary students were given a pencil with the same message by the school cafeteria workers. 1400 children were directly impacted by the effort. It culminated at the homecoming football game halftime show, with a message from the football coach saying he agreed that he needed his players to "Eat

High school football player, Braedon Sloan,

posed with Wally Cat and an elementary

student while promoting the program.

Program Assistant, Seth Hart, demonstrates

the pottery wheel for 4-H Art Club students.

Smart to Play Hard." 4-H Cooking Club then threw 200+ footballs with the same message into the crowd. A big hat's off to Gaye Hutchison, our Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program Assistant for setting this up!

Mock Speech Contest

A mock speech contest was organized by ANR Assistant, Terry Bertram. Students in the local FFA chapter were given the opportunity to gain experience from a practice perspective in order to gain confidence and insight into what regional competition may be. Qualified judges critiqued and gave helpful suggestions to assist students in future contest preparation. This simulated event was a great opportunity for all 16 students, especially for those who had never given speeches in competition.

Extension Homemakers Volunteer

Wayne County Homemakers have long-been a part of our community, selflessly volunteering and pouring their time and effort into projects that benefit so many individuals. If it weren’t for our Homemakers, Extension wouldn’t be able to extend the variety of services that we do to our community. Homemakers recently held their 36th Annual Christmas Village. Over the years, Christmas Village has become a much-anticipated event to ring in the holiday season in our community. Each Homemaker club sets up a booth to sell homemade crafts, tasty treats, and other creative projects they’ve worked on for months to prepare. Children’s Village, a ‘store’ set up to allow children ages 5-12 to purchase gifts for their family members at a low cost is

held. Christmas Village continues to be the Homemakers biggest fundraiser throughout the year. The event is planned by a committee which consists of members from each club. They continuously seek ways to improve the Village, and this year that included a change of venue, from the National Guard Armory to the Aspire Center. So far, positive feedback has been given on the changes. We look forward to continuing the holiday tradition in our community and growing as a Homemaker organization!

School Garden

The almost six acre garden site on the Wayne County School campus (also known as the FFA Garden) serves multiple purposes. Produce grown this year included potatoes, tomatoes, sweet corn, broccoli, pumpkins and melons. These items are consumed by the students attending the county school system. ANR Agent Glen Roberts, ANR Assistant Terry Bertram and KSU Small Farm Assistant Danny Adams worked with 165 high school students enrolled in the Vocational Agricultural Education courses this year. Students assisted in planting and ground preparation, facilitation of crops and product harvest.

FFA Mock Speech Contest Participants

Danny Adams, KSU Small Farm Assistant,

works with Vocational Agricultural

Education students to prepare the garden

for potato planting.

Food Preservation Class

Seventeen participants completed the 2019 Wayne County Food Preservation Program. They learned the pressure canning, water bath canning, freezing and drying methods of food preservation. Over half (63%) of the participants were new to Cooperative Extension programming. Half (50%) of the participants reported using food preservation methods never or rarely and over one-third (36%) reported using food preservation methods quite often prior to the program. Participants said that they learned about the program through the Homemaker newsletter, Facebook, the Extension website and friends and family. The reasons given by most participants for choosing to attend the program were because of a desire to learn (63%) and to improve skills (56%).

4-H Cooking Club

4-H Cooking Club is a group of kids that love to cook and learn about cooking! They also participate in a community project where they visit the elders in our community. A recent visit was to Horizon Adult Health Care. They played bingo and decorated cookies with the clients there. Some of the clients were in 4-H as children, and one special lady told us her story of how she made an apron as a 4-H project when she was young.

“I love seeing students working for others.”

Katina Shearer, 4-H Parent

458 Number of youth who reported that they followed instructions step-by-step to do or make things themselves

217 Number of youth who create a display or object related to SET and can explain what they have learned

1074 Number of youth who indicated they know how to use information they are given to make decisions

675 Number of children grades 3-5 who report intention to ask their family to keep cut-up vegetables in a place where they can reach them

40 Number of producers who adopted one or more fertility management recommendations

500 Number of participants gaining access to Extension programming at local farmer’s markets

300 Number of volunteer service hours completed by Extension Master Gardener Volunteers in the county

100 Number of those indicating an increased awareness of sustainable agriculture practices

208 Number of youth who are more aware of preparing and eating healthy, local food

971 Number of youth who are more aware of local farmer’s markets and community gardens

130 Number of those reporting that their knowledge of leadership has been enhanced

Extension At a Glance

4-H Cooking Club and 4-H Assistant, Sherry

Coffey with the Horizon participants during

their visit.