In the spring of 2020, The University of Kentucky’s Boone County Nutrition Education Program Assistant partnered with Hillard Collins Elementary to teach an in-person Nutrition Series with 89 Fourth grade students.  These nutrition classes were held in person in each classroom. Nutrition lessons were taught, along with healthy food samplings and group exercise activities. The classes were going very well, until they came to a halt, in March 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.  Boone County schools never returned to in person classes that year, so sadly the nutrition program was never fully completed.  

The Nutrition Education Program quickly adapted to the change in teaching styles, to create a virtual online Professor Popcorn curriculum nutrition series. Although food samplings were no longer permitted, virtual food demonstrations and exercise videos were shown to create a similar educational experience for the students.

One year later the partnership was reunited, now virtually.  In the spring of 2021, The Professor Popcorn Nutrition Series was held virtually via Google classroom with six participating Fourth grade classes. 56 students virtually completed the whole nutrition series. 75% of the students surveyed improved their washing fruits and vegetables practices and lowered their intake of fruit flavored sugary sports drinks.