Madison County 4-H sponsors youth to attend the Kentucky 4-H State Teen Conference each summer if the teen agrees to lead a 4-H program through Madison County Cooperative Extension Service for the community such as a day camp or monthly club, the council just requires that they lead at least 6 educational hours of programming. One Madison County High-School Student attended the conference in 2019 and began plans for his workshop soon after the conference ended. This teen had an interest in cooking and wanted to share that interest with the youth in Madison County. He partnered with Madison County Cooperative Extension Service to plan and lead the Chef Aaron’s Cooking Day Camp on October 14^th, 2019. Not only was this a learning opportunity for the participants, the teen developed leadership skills and reported having more confidence when teaching a group. Twelve youth ages 9-14 participated in the day camp along with the teen leader. No previous cooking experience was required and participants learned  how to handle kitchen utensils, tried new ingredients, proper hand washing technique, how to follow a recipe and different types of cooking techniques. The students completed four healthy SNAP recipes that they could take home and share with their families. According to the American Heart Association, teaching youth how to prepare their own food will give them a skill they can use for a lifetime, they will be more likely to eat healthier as adults and build self-confidence through cooking. 

As a result of the cooking camp, based on the data from the twelve participants to the pre- and post-tests the following knowledge was gained:

• 100% of identified they could avoid spreading germs while cooking.
• 92% identified they were confident in their ability to safely use a knife and cutting board to cut up food
• 92% tried a new ingredient
• 100% learned how to measure ingredients accurately 
• 100% said they could follow a recipe 
• 100% learned how to safely use a new kitchen tool