A teacher at an all male, tuition-free, independent school in Jefferson County contacted the Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Service about implementing nutrition education in her third grade classroom.  The students came from single parent homes in the city, with little to no access to fruits and healthy snacks to choose from.  Some of them ate a lot of salty, high fat snacks after school and were eating a lot of fast food.  The students were sent home with letters to the parents before each lesson, to inform them of what the students would be doing in the class.  The students were eager to learn how to cook and participate and were very disciplined.  They were very enthused each time the Nutrition Education Program Assistant arrived and would meet the assistant downstairs in the office to help take up the cart, food and equipment to the classroom. The classes began with safe hand washing, safe food handling and washing fruits and vegetables.  The class learned about My Plate, making half their grains whole and making drinks using low fat dairy products and fresh fruits.  They participated in preparing recipes in the class and were able to practice knife skills by cutting vegetables and fruits.  After completing six lessons, 55% of the youth demonstrated an improvement in washing fruits and vegetables and 73% demonstrated an improvement in reducing their consumption of soda.  Each student received a graduation certification and reinforcement items they could use to cook at home with their families.  The students were very appreciative of the classes and gave the assistant a gift and card on day of the last class.  One of the students in the class was the son of a former program partner that the Nutrition Education Program Assistant had partnered with for programming many years ago.  The program had benefitted his mother in the past and now had a direct impact in his life as well.