Author: Dominique Wood
Planning Unit: Livingston County CES
Major Program: 4-H Youth Development Programming
Plan of Work: Encouraging youth to become skillful, productive, contributing members of our community.
Outcome: Long-Term Outcome
Livingston County is a rural county with a population of 9,200 people and a high percentage of poverty (14.5%). Livingston County 4-H strives to provide a variety of educational experiences to create opportunities for youth to discover their talents and career paths. The CHOPPED Cooking Club began in 2016 with ten youth ages 8 to 17. The group meets monthly to develop life skills and healthy eating habits as they prepare recipes. The club uses the CHOP CHOP Magazine and educational resources made possible from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and UK SNAP-Education program. The youth select themes and recipes for monthly meetings. The oldest member of the CHOP Cooking Club is a young man with a high functioning type of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), referred to as Asperger’s Syndrome. People with Asperger’s Syndrome have difficulty with social and communication skills and dislike of change. This includes eating the same food every day. The workspace and lesson plans required minor modification to accommodate the 4-H member. He applied kitchen safety rules, prepared recipes accurately with precise measurements, and sampled all the recipes. He demonstrated kitchen safety rules and knife cutting skills for new members of the class; he assists young members of the club; he has advanced to more challenging food preparation skills; and he is experimenting and he is creating his own recipes. All youth practiced public speaking in presenting their dishes to audience at each meeting. He gained the confidence to enroll in welding and shop classes at the high school. His mother attributes his improved socialization and gained confidence to participation in 4-H activities. Recently, this Junior has applied for the Governor’s Scholars Program, a highly competitive academic summer program which requires youth to reside on college campus dorms.
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