Youth in Metcalfe County no longer have access to a Family and Consumer Sciences class at the middle school or high school.  Due to budget cuts, the choice was made to end those programs.  However there is still a strong need for children to learn cooking skills that they can use throughout their entire lives.  The middle school currently has a 21st CCLC grant in place and hired a new director this past March.  The new director contacted the extension office to request cooking classes.  Previously, cooking classes were being taught once a month by the extension FCS Agent, and once a month by the SNAP-Education Assistant.  The SNAP Assistant did agree to continue teaching the classes. The FCS Agent works with them on mind body exercise. Youth groups would gather in the director's classroom each month and have a lesson about nutrition and food safety from the Teen Cuisine curriculum and then would prepare one of the healthy recipes from the lesson.  During the summer, the SNAP Assistant also went and taught 3 classes for the youth participating in the  21st CCLC summer day camp.  During this time, the food service director for the schools gave the SNAP Assistant the approval to use the kitchen ovens, etc. at the school's cafeteria, which previously had been denied.  When school resumed for this year, the SNAP Assistant was invited to return to teach the monthly cooking classes and has been allowed access to the kitchen.

The youth that sign up to participate in cooking classes truly enjoy being there.  Because it is voluntary, the youth are very interested in learning how to cook.  The SNAP will continue to teach the Teen Cuisine curriculum but now the youth can also prepare cooked food, instead of things that just had to be put together or meals that had to be partially pre-cooked by the SNAP before class.  This allowance of kitchen use is rare here.  In fact, the school cafeteria cooks at the middle school had a hard time believing that the youth would be allowed to use the kitchen since no one else is ever allowed back there.  This shows the strong faith the food service director has in the extension service.  The director of the 21st CCLC program is happy with the classes as well.  The youth have expressed they have more confidence in the kitchen now and are more apt to try new foods.  They also help develop and prepare meals at home.  They consider which foods are more nutritious and predict what foods go together to make a healthier plate.