Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, nutrition programming in Lincoln County has been greatly affected for all age groups, one of which is elementary age students.  No outside visitors were allowed in schools for the entirety of the 2020/2021 school year.  Finally, during summer school, in-person programming was able to be safely carried out using some creative changes in usual teaching methods.  The Nutrition Education Program Assistant partnered with the Family Resource Center at Crab Orchard Elementary to provide nutrition lessons with a focus on cooking methods and kitchen/food safety for Kindergarten-5^th grade summer school students.  The Superstar Chef curriculum was utilized and taught to approximately 70 students, while 51 completed the program. Since tasting was not allowed, recipe demos were carried out by the Nutrition Education Program Assistant after each lesson, and the FRC coordinator worked with the school cafeteria to give out the ingredients for the healthy recipes each week, so that the students could make the meals at home with their families. 

This program was very successful, and students enjoyed getting a chance to learn new recipes, even though they were not able to taste them immediately. Every week, they would report trying new types of fruits and vegetables and practicing new kitchen techniques at home with their families.  The students also showed great improvements in food group knowledge, food safety knowledge and other nutrition related subjects. According to entry and exit evaluations, the Kindergarten-2^nd grade group showed a 72% improvement in their responses to dairy group foods. They also showed a 72% improvement in food safety questions. 58% of 3^rd-5^th graders reported eating vegetables more often as a snack and 53% reported drinking less soda. Overall, this program was an extremely enjoyable and provided a great opportunity for the students of Crab Orchard Elementary School.