Career awareness promotes self-awareness from an early age as children learn about their abilities, interests, and strengths.  The EFNEP Assistant Senior partnered with Maysville Community and Technical College’s Career Craze youth workshops.  School-aged children registered for careers that interest them and spend the entire day learning about that career.  A total of 41 children signed up for the food and nutrition workshop.  The EFNEP assistant set up visits to two local restaurants and a food truck so the children could learn about different career paths available in the food industry.  After touring the eating establishments, the youth returned to the extension office where they learned to cook and taste several dishes using the Super Star Chef curriculum.  The children made homemade whole wheat biscuits, lemon veggies and salsa with homemade chips.  Evaluations revealed that children improved in the following categories:  62% improved knowledge in food safety practices; 59% improved in preparing simple, nutritious, affordable food; and 24% improved in choosing food according to the Federal Dietary recommendations.

Each dish was tasted by all 41 children. Children stated that they liked the lemon veggies and salsa with homemade chips and would make them at home.  Several children wanted to save the food so their parents could try it.   Every child received a recipe book of workshop recipes along with other recipes from the Super Star Chef curriculum.