Professional development is essential for Extension staff, as they seek to serve the emerging needs of their communities throughout the state. Nutrition Education Program Assistants serve as a source of reliable, research-based information within their communities, who are often facing nutrition insecurity and health disparities. In May of 2022, 74 NEP Assistants and 23 NEP state staff attended a 2-day NEP state in-service in Lexington, KY. SNAP-Ed staff from Kentucky State University were also in attendance.

NEP Assistants were provided with training on many topics, including the most recent update to the USDA Dietary Guidelines, youth curriculums, including a USDA curriculum developed to provide nutrition education at summer feeding site and using media and creative communication for nutrition education messaging. The state in-service also allowed time for networking and sharing of best practices related to programming for NEP assistants working across the state. Senior NEP Assistants facilitated several of these sessions, providing them an opportunity to utilize their leadership and mentoring skills.

Evaluation results from the meeting demonstrated that the in-service content was relevant to NEP Assistants’ programming needs and would be utilized in their communities.

• 98% of respondents agreed/strongly agreed that networking opportunities were useful for providing ideas related to programming.
• 94% of respondents agreed/strongly agreed that the nutrition and program updates from state staff provided the knowledge they needed for successful nutrition education programs.
• An average of 82% of respondents agreed/strongly agreed that they planned to use what was learned in their multiple breakout sessions in their programming efforts.