Ryland Heights Elementary School (RHES) had more than twenty families who were raising relatives who were not their own children.  Most of these were grandparents raising their grandchildren.  To offer support to these families, the Family Resource Youth Service Center (FRYSC) Coordinator of RHES contacted the Kenton County Cooperative Extension Service’s Nutrition Education Program (NEP) Assistant.  The NEP Assistant taught six “Super Families” the Healthy Choices for Every Body curriculum.  The participants—men and women--met together one night a month for the seven- lesson series to learn how to prepare easy, nutritious meals for their families.  They learned to read labels, plan meals, stretch their food dollars, and prepare and store food safely. While the adults prepared and tried new recipes, a Kenton County 4-H Agent taught the children in the “super families.”  This collaboration allowed the adults to have fun and learn valuable information in order to stretch their food budgets, while their children were also learning about good nutrition and eating healthy.

As the participants were filling out their ending Behavior Questionnaire, one female participant said, “My answers are so different now because of all that I’ve learned!”  The group as a whole displayed great behavior change.  According to date from a national reporting system eighty percent of the graduates reported that they now plan meals ahead of time, compare food prices before they shop, use the Nutrition Facts label to make healthy food choices, and thaw their foods properly according to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines.  And 100% are now shopping with a grocery list.

The NEP Assistant saw one of the class participants a few months after the class ended.  She said, “My grandkids are now helping me cook at home, and we are saving money at the grocery.  We want to continue having classes with you.  Our group feels like family now, and we all learned so much.” 

Plans are being made between the NEP Assistant and the FRYSC at Ryland Heights to continue offering more classes to benefit these “super families.”