The Pike County Cooperative Extension Service Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program and the Pike County Schools, continued our partnership to provide healthy eating exercise and food safety education so students can make better nutritional and physical activity choices. 

The Professor Popcorn Curriculum was used as students were taught why we should choose healthy fruits and vegetables over fast food and prepackaged snacks. The students learned about food safety, along with hand washing, kitchen cleanliness and keeping refrigerated items cold.  They learned how fat germs can grow once food is out of the refrigeration. Students sampled healthy recipes and took nutrition materials to take home to share with their families 

Twenty Students participated in the class. Seventy-eight percent improved on eating vegetables. Sixty-seven improved on eating fruit as a snack and 29% improved on food safety. Seventy-eight percent improved on physical activities. 

When asked to share their experiences, third graders wrote " I am going to change my summer by drinking water instead of pop to become more healthier." Another reported, " This summer instead of eating junk food I am going to eat healthier."