Kentucky State University | Kentucky State University County Extension

Edwin Chavous and Trevor Claiborn did a black plastic laying demonstration in Anderson County on on May 19, 2021. The farm owners are Mr. Vincent and JoJuana Greene. They have a son; his name is James who was also present. The purpose of the on-farm demonstration was to teach how to connect irrigation to black plastic to grow vegetables. This was a learning experience and on the job training for Mr. Claiborn in Anderson County, Kentucky which is one of his assigned counties. For information about using Kentucky State University's plastice laying equipment contact Edwin Chavous at edwin.chavous@kysu.edu.

Creative [class] Options

Kathleen “Happy” Raffaele is working with Creative Options in Anderson County. Creative Options is a Day Center for special needs young adults. According to the CDC, adults with disabilities are three times more likely to have chronic disease like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer. Physical activity helps to reduce the impact of chronic disease. Only one half of adults with disabilities get the thirty minutes a day of Physical Activity recommended per day. SNAP Education has entered a partnership with the UK Disability Resource Center to serve this at-risk population. Ms. Raffaele was working with the Creative Options participants pre-COVID. Most recently, she provided nutrition information and a chair-based exercise class outside. Ms. Raffaele stated, “This group is always interested in learning new things and taking part in the exercises. This is a great group to work with, I have fun every visit."

Jefferson County 4-H "Your Thoughts Matter"

Patrice Thompson is providing 4-H Youth Development in Jefferson County. Ms. Thompson is teaching a program called “Your Thoughts Matter.” The program is aimed at introducing mental health concepts and how these concepts can help them become better citizens. Ms. Thompson is showing her creative side with this program. At the end, the participants are required to decide on a project that will impact their schools or community. Since the students are not meeting in person, Ms. Thompson has recruited a therapist to host a virtual workshop toward the end of the program. This will give theminsight into the mental health field and community mental health. Ms. Thompson sees the importance of mental health programming for youth populations. She shares, “Being that mental health awareness has been on the rise, especially within our student populations, I am confident that this program will be beneficial in educating and empowering the students at Western Middle School.”

Healthy Living in Hardin County

Chandra DeRamus has developed a four-part video series called the “Healthy Living Series,” geared toward helping the limited-resource audience to make healthier meal choices by learning some simple tips on meal planning, such as Portion Control and Learning How to Identify Unit labels to save money on their food items at the grocery store. Last month's featured video, called “Meal Planning Made Easy: Air Fryer Basics,” included some tips on how to use an air fryer and several other tips on meal planning. The video now has about 371 views from the Hardin County Extension page. The aim of this program is to help viewers find creative ways to meal plan and learn how to create meals that are quick and easy to make. Ms. DeRamus states, “I have gotten a lot of great reviews from sharing this content with viewers! I think that this has increased the amount of people who know that KSU offers programs in FCS on more of a local level. It has been fun coming up with ideas for the behind-the-scenes photo opportunities and posters for the video and a great learning experience!”