When the pandemic struck, Fayette County Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education assistant Jacqui Denegri and horticulture agent Jamie Dockery had to quickly redesign their summer gardening/cooking series for students with Down Syndrome. They had to take the entire program online. Families picked up garden packets Dockery made for them,that gave them the things they needed to grow tomatoes and peppers in their own yards. During the weekly sessions, he would answer questions they had about how to manage their gardens. Denegri would structure some of her zoom cooking classes around the homegrown ingredients.

She’s been teaching cooking skills to special needs students in-person for several years but using an online format actually helped many of the students relax. One participant shared this,

“Olivia looks forward to cooking class, she really enjoys seeing her friends, Jacquie and Jamie on the zoom calls.  She loves cooking different things and taking them home to share with her family.  Last summer we would visit the garden at the Extension office and look for vegetables and herbs to make lunch or snacks with.  Because of the class, Olivia will pick up a cookbook or food magazine and flip through it looking for something to make.

I have found the class great with working on life skills.  We take the recipes and look to see what she needs to put on her shopping list.  She is much better at knowing the difference between flour, sugar, brown sugar and powdered sugar just by looking at the items.  She has to find the needed items in the store and then check out and pay.   On cooking day, she has to find what we need to cook and what pans, mixer or measuring cups we need.  It's great!  It has also been helpful in working with Olivia to remind her she has to be nice to others and listen to what is being said on the Zoom call.   Because of Covid we have not been out and about with as many people and social skills have sometimes been forgotten.”

And another parent shared these thoughts, “Josh and I love our cooking/gardening class.   It’s given us both more confidence in working together in the kitchen and the garden.  Before cooking class I didn’t expect Josh to do much in the kitchen so his expectations of his own success were kept pretty low.  But then he and his friends started having fun with Jacqui learning the proper ways to cut, cook, measure, pour, mix, and be healthy and both of us realized he could do much more.  Now he doesn’t hesitate to jump in and chop up vegetables for dinner or make his own lunch and I now know he can do it.  We both learned a lot about gardening last year from Jamie and have just started another garden with different vegetables this year.  We’re getting pretty adventurous and Josh even built a compost bin and is using his newfound knowledge to achieve a Boy Scout gardening merit badge.  Jamie has been super helpful with his advice and expertise and has made gardening class a lot of fun.  Many of the kids in the class had never been to a farm so it was pretty cool to meet some of his farm animals over zoom, as well.  Jamie and Jacqui make a great team and even though we haven’t been able to meet in person this past year, their zoom class is one we all look forward to and enjoy.”