This is the second class series of Rowan Middle School Enrichment Program partnering with Kentucky State University Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program Education (SNAP/Ed) Area Agent to provide nutrition education to the six, seven, and eight grade enrichment classes in an effort to improve diet quality and health (see Part 1). Beginning with the second semester of school in January 2018, six SNAP-Ed Power-Up Curriculum lessons were taught to eight different classes consisting of 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grades. The SNAP-Ed Power-Up Curriculum is an on-line program designed for teens and preteens to give them the tools they need to be active and healthy. The six lessons started with the pretest and an introduction of MyPlate using “Slow, Go, or Whoa”, also used the test tubes to show the amount of sodium, fats and sugar in popular foods. Second lesson was “Track your Snacks” using food a pedia, lesson three was “What’s your Plan”, where the students personalized their profile to see caloric need based on age, gender and activity level, lesson 4 the students analyzed their 24 hour recall based on their profile. Lesson 5 was “Balance your Calories” based on their analyses with lesson 6 reviewing the concepts their learned by playing MyPlate Jeopardy and the posttest. The Power-Up curriculum also included worksheets for the students to complete which could be used to check their performance for the school’s grading system. 

A total of 243 students participated in the beginning with 213 completing both the pretest and posttest (88%). Summary from the pretest and post-test using the Clemson University Web-based reporting system showed 89% of the youths had improved their diet quality by improving their ability to choose foods based on the Federal Recommendation Guidelines or gained knowledge. Seventy nine percent (79%) of the youths showed improvements in physical activity practices or gained knowledge, while fifty eight percent (58%) used safe food handling practices more often or gained knowledge.  Overall, one hundred (100%) of the total program participants improved in one or more core areas during the second semester classes. 

 Summary of both semester showed a total of 460 students completing the program.  Eighty-eight percent (88%) showed they had improved their diet quality by improving their ability to choose foods based on the Federal Recommendation Guidelines or gained knowledge.  Seventy percent (70%) of the youths showed improvements in physical activity practices or gained knowledge, while sixty one (61%) used safe food handling practices more often or gained knowledge.  Overall, ninety nine (99%) of the total program participants improved in one or more core areas. Kentucky State University SNAP-Ed program hopes to partner with the Rowan County Middle School Program again during the 2018-2019 school year to provide nutrition education to the enrichment program. 

Sources: 

1. Rowan County Nutrition Education Program 2016 Annual Report.
2. Project EAT from University of Minnesota Medical School 2009
3. Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), Community Eligibility Continues to Grow, in the 2016–2017 School Year, March 2017, www.FRAC.org.
4. Wellness in Kentucky, University of Kentucky Extension, 2017 
5. Power UP:SNAP-Ed Curriculum, USDA, 2017
6. WEBNEERS, Clemson University Web for Extension, 2017