The problem:

Culinary Arts continue to spark the interest of Oldham County youth, 4-H strives to offer at least three culinary sessions (6 hours each) yearly. Sessions fill up within hours of being posted.

The educational program response:

Oldham County 4-H has hosted three culinary camps to date:  Baking Camp, Italian Foods Camp, Super Bowl Cooking Camp and Breads for Teens involving over 60 young people. Two additional culinary programs are planned for the summer.

In addition to the culinary camp sessions, Oldham County 4-H now has two culinary clubs which meet monthly. The county started the second club when enrollment reached forty members, the facility could not support the hands-on learning environment with 40 members.  The Delicious Delights and Delicious Delights 2 Culinary Clubs are led by a 4-H member, who grew up in the program, and her mother. The member joined 4-H at the age of nine and her love of the Culinary Arts sparked from there. The member was awarded the Kentucky 4-H Gold Award and will be attending Sullivan Culinary Arts Institute on a scholarship. The love of culinary arts sparked from her 4-H involvement from an incredibly early age.

The participants/target audience:

The audience is youth aged 9 to 13 for most culinary programs. Older youth, aged 14 to 18, volunteer as a group leader supervising the cooking stations. The Breads for Teens program will target the older youth in the county and was a joint effort with the Family and Consumer Science Program.

Other partners (if applicable)

Oldham County 4-H and FCS Agents

Extension Program Assistants

Oldham County Extension Council member volunteers to assist with DD2.

Program impact or participant response.

"4-H has had a tremendous influence on my life. 4-H has taught me to be responsible, it has taught me to think more of other people’s feelings than of my own and it has taught me that the more effort I put into something the more I will get out of it. 4-H has taught me that I can make a difference in my community by putting forth the effort to help others any way that I can, that even the smallest thing can make a difference in someone’s life. 4-H has shown me that what I do affects everyone around me not just myself. 4-H has shown me the impact that I can have on my community as well as on my future." 4-H Culinary Arts Member Testimonial