Author: Joan Bowling
Planning Unit: Kenton County CES
Major Program: Making Healthy Lifestyle Choices (general)
Plan of Work: Securing Financial Stability, Estate Planning, Real Skills for Everyday Life
Outcome: Initial Outcome
Teenagers in limited resource families are faced with nonacademic barriers to learning that may carry over into adulthood impacting future success unless programs are in place to assist in the transition. In a continuing joint effort to address these barriers the Kenton County Family and Consumer Sciences agent and the Youth Service Center coordinator at a local high school have partnered to offer monthly programs throughout the school year for a group of 11 referred students. The programs taught face to face included information and hands on experiences in: nutrition; budgeting; and employability skills. Prior to schools being shutdown the students in attendance offered the following testimonies as to how the programs impacted them: " I would not have ever tried to make a smoothie until you showed me how"; I will try to eat spinach now that I know it isn't nasty" ; "I will be able to budget my paycheck better now that I know how to pay myself first" ; " I didn't know how much a passport would cost before you told me, now I can budget better for my upcoming trip"; "It makes sense now why I need to dress right for an interview"
Additional resources were offered through handouts to the Family Resource Center Coordinator to distribute to the students during the school shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘Living on a Reduced Budget”; stress management; understanding depression, and understanding and preventing suicide. The overall emotional impact of COVID-19 on young adults may very likely be significant. Going forward for the upcoming program year the collaboration with the high school youth service coordinator will focus on emotional well being in an effort to alleviate lasting negative impact the isolation and financial stress has burdened the undeserved audiences.
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