Viola Wood, a Nutrition Education Program Assistant for Muhlenberg County Cooperative Extension office spent some time in February educating a few of the Muhlenberg Job Corps students. The program Viola presented was Kentucky Nutrition Education Program’s Healthy Choices for Everybody, through the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. The program teaches clients to achieve and maintain good health, through healthy eating, food safety, and increasing physical activity levels.  Over the four weeks, clients in the program learned to recognize what healthy eating looked like and focus on building a healthier plate with My Plate and recognizing healthy foods.  In hands on classes they learned to read recipes and prepare easy and affordable meals that tasted great, usually preparing two dishes per week.  Also, they received tips to save money of groceries through reading food labels, meal planning, budgeting, and improved use of their food dollars skills that will be beneficial to them when they leave Job Corp and begin their careers.  Lastly, they learned the importance of food safety, how to prepare and store food safely, to reduce the risk of food borne illnesses and waste less food.  The students that completed the program were given a bag of basic kitchen tools to set up their kitchens when the leave the Job Corp and a Certificate of Completion.

Michelle Swift said that preparing the small meals in class was her favorite part and it allowed her to try different things. Camri Mixon also enjoyed fixing the small meals and it gave her several new ideas for when she leaves Muhlenberg Job Corps. All the students had one thing they agreed on and it was they loved Viola Wood in the classroom. They enjoyed her knowledge, passion and the time spent with her on Tuesdays. Muhlenberg Job Corps would like to thank the extension office for investing time in our students to help them be better prepared for life after job corps.

Picture From L to R: Viola Wood, Keywanna Jones, Kyara Wortham, Terrica Dixon, Camille Phenizy & Kiara Overton