COVID-19 has had a tremendous effect on students and their learning across the nation this year. Closed schools have added more social isolation more than ever. Rowan County SNAP-Ed Program Assistant decided to have nutrition classes for students online this year. Although not there in-person, we were able to make it fun and enjoyable for the students. The program helped promote general wellness and exercise in a time of uncertainty for many youth. . The classes have workshops about nutrition, food Groups, food safety, and the importance of being active. They also explained healthy food choices, to limit sugar and added sodium, and eat less fats. With billions of children being overweight, these classes are very beneficial in encouraging healthy habits at a young age to prevent obesity and diabetes in youth. The teachers provided wonderful feedback of how easy and fun the classes are. This also helped include the whole school in promoting a healthy environment. With this program, we graduated more than 250 youth. With COVID-19 effecting the in person curriculum, we were astounded by how much support we received from our educator partner as well as participation from students. Although this virtual transition was new and sudden, the students did very well in the curriculum, learning more than ever the importance of nutrition and exercise in a fun and new way.

The evaluation of effectiveness of the program.