The Madison Middle School reached out to the Madison County Cooperative Extension Service Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) assistant with the hopes of tailoring a nutrition education program for interested students. To help middle school students interested in cooking be more productive and safer in the kitchen, an afterschool cooking club was formed. The cooking club consisted of 11 students who participated in a series of seven nutrition lessons.

A curriculum titled Teen Cuisine was utilized to aid in teaching the students healthy eating, food safety, and meal preparation. The students had the opportunity to learn and incorporate many kitchen skills, such as using a chef’s knife, grating, which they found the most difficult task, as well as microwave and oven safety. In addition to the previously mentioned skills, reading a recipe and proper measuring techniques were used in making a variety of healthy snacks and recipes. While using their newfound kitchen and cooking skills, 82% of students increased their daily intake of vegetables, while 100% of youth improved their ability to choose foods and gained nutrition knowledge according to Federal Dietary Recommendations.