Grayson County • 2019

Laugh and Learn Play Dates

In recent years, Grayson County has shown below average kindergarten readiness rates. In 2016 and 2017 only 36.7% and 39.6%, respectively, of children entering school were considered “kindergarten ready”. Many schools throughout the county began to put efforts towards getting children prepared for school and educating parents on how they can play an integral part in their child’s early learning.

The Grayson County Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program partnered with the County Early Childhood Education Council to plan and implement a program aimed to educate families on child development. “Laugh and Learn Playdate” is a series of programs that focuses on positive child development that will prepare them to enter school fully ready to learn. The program targets toddlers ages 16 months – 5 years and their parents, or caregivers. At this monthly program, developmentally appropriate, and interactive activities are set up at various stations. After a brief group activity families are encouraged to move through the stations at their child’s own pace. Parents are encouraged to engage with the child, but let the child lead the learning/playing. Parents are supplied with words, phrases, and questions to engage their child with each activity. They are

For More Information, Please Contact us at:

Grayson County Extension Office • (270) 259-3492 • graysonext.org

123 Commerce Drive, Leitchfield, KY 42754

also given the “why we are doing this” and the “what your kiddo is learning” information at each activity station so parents have a better understanding of how playing is learning in early childhood. The goal of the program is to educate families on what it means to be “kindergarten ready” and to provide them with the knowledge and to successfully facilitate and reinforce learning in the home.

The program has grown and is now implemented on the 3rd Friday of each month throughout the year. An average of 15 families attend each playdate. We are eager to gather data from this program in the 2019-2020 program year.

4-H Youth Development

SET Day Camp

Grayson County 4-H has had a member on the state 4-H Science, Engineering, and Technology Board for two years, and in her second year, came to the 4-H Agent with the idea and desire to have a SET Club in the county. The Agent strives to allow and foster the youth to bring new and innovative ideas and bring them to fruition. They discussed in length the ideas the member had, as well as the logistics to make it happen. The teen would be the primary leader and her older sister, now 4-H Alum, as the adult volunteer advisor. The youth of the Grayson County 4-H SET Squad would meet monthly at the

Extension Office to learn activities that they would later teach to their peers at a summer day camp. The teen leader and Agent both agreed that they desired for this group to be more than a club, but not a board, hence the creation of the SET Squad. The nine members and their parents signed forms stating they would be committed to the group and to learn the activities and build the leadership skills necessary for teaching peers.

A day camp was planned for early July at the Extension Office. The nine members met with the teen leader the day prior to go over all of the activities planned and have practice runs led by the members who volunteered to teach each of the four stations. The day of the event, 17 youth were in attendance for the day camp and received six hours of SET education. The stations and activities the participants engaged in included: Amazing Maze- Computer Coding activity, SNAP Circuits- Electricity and Circuits, Junk Drawer Boat- Engineering Design Challenge, Make-a-Maze- Design and Creativity, DIY Flashlights, and LEGO Bridge Challenge. At the end of the day, the participants all had fun, learned new science activities, and enjoyed their peers being their teachers.

Upon completing the day of teaching, the SET Squad was asked to complete a survey:

Before the day camp, 44% had rated themselves at 1 or 2 (1 being lowest on 5 point scale) on their level of confidence in giving presentations.

After the day camp, 100% had highest levels of confidence in giving presentations.

Before the day camp, 44% did not have confidence in teaching a lesson to their peers.

After the day camp, 100% had high confidence in teaching lessons to their peers.

100% built confidence in themselves during SET Squad meetings.

100% say that 4-H has helped them build the confidence they need to become a good leader for their peers.

Participants of the SET Day Camp used snap

circuits to learn about the flow of electricity.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

Farm Management for Women

Based on the USDA Census of Agriculture, from 2012 to 2017, farm operations with a female principal producer went from 185 to 439. The Grayson County Cooperative Extension Service has noticed an increase in female clientele in programming and for walk in consultations on different topics. Even after the Farm Basics program that Farm Service Agency collaborated with, the participation continued to increase. The Agriculture agent saw a need based on the types of questions that were being fielded that a program geared towards women in agriculture would likely be a beneficial program. Therefore, the Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent developed a program based on basic farm management titled “Farm Management Basics for Women.” This program was a 4 part mini-series that included setting goals, farm management, evaluating land and natural resources, money, leasing options, estate planning and overview of markets. The program utilized speakers and resources from the Family and Consumer Sciences Agent, local county attorney, USDA Farm Service Agency, Soil Conservation, Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (KCARD) and UK Ag Economics.

Fourteen women participated in the program, ranging from age 21 to 70. There were a wide variety of agriculture production areas represented, and many different backgrounds.

Based on pre and post evaluations, all 14 participants intended to utilize the resources from the program to help continue to develop their farming operation. All 14 participants gained a higher level of understanding of resources, financial principles, markets, farm profitability, estate and retirement planning. Based on surveys, the participants indicated that from this program, they would like more information on succession planning and basic production systems to help them understand what happens daily on the farm. More than anything, the ladies that participated in the program now have a network of people that they can reach out to for resources and information.

SNAP-Ed Programs

Food Insecurity and Nutrition

Food insecurity isn’t something you ever foresee in your future and it can be a scary situation for individuals and families when it strikes; thus the need for food pantries and emergency food banks.

Recently the Nutrition Education Program (NEP) assistant, Robin Felix, partnered with the Grayson County Food Pantry and Alliance to provide a seven month series of nutrition classes to help their clients learn how to use their resources more efficiently and be more prepared in the future.

During this series of classes she taught lessons that focused on diet quality, food security, food resource management and food safety.

SNAP-Ed Assistant, Robin Felix teaches

participants at the G.C. Alliance about using

their resources to make nutritious meals.

Participants of the Farm Management for

Women Program learn about Web Soil

Survey.

There was a 100% improvement in diet quality (shown below); meaning that each individual that participated in the series showed great improvements in eating more fruits and vegetables.

There were also other noteworthy improvements within this group, i.e. 72% improvement in food security, 89% improvement in food resource management, and a 94% improvement in food safety practices. As a whole, this series was a great success, and Ms. Felix will continue partnering with the Grayson County Food Pantry and Alliance in the future to help meet the needs of the families in Grayson County.

Horticulture

Wallace Avenue Community Garden

In it’s second year, the Wallace Avenue Community Garden project has taken off with the help of The Master Gardener Association of Grayson County and local community partners. This year there were 12 beds utilized, and the ANR and Family and Consumer Sciences Agents did a “What’s in Your Garden Series” focusing on gardening techniques, as well as making nutritious meals with their fresh produce. Recently, the Family and Consumer Sciences Extension awarded the community garden with a grant to purchase more materials to create more beds and gardening materials to expand the garden plots in the next program year. This will allow more people to benefit from the gardens.

150 Number of producers who reported saving money or reducing cost of operation

161 youth used the knowledge and skills developed from 4-H science, engineering and technology programs in daily life

75 Number of individuals actively engaged in collaboration and programs that build community capacity to nurture families

1038 Number of volunteer service hours completed by Extension Master Gardener Volunteers

554 Number of youth who apply the skills learned in 4-H and in other activities at home, school or in the community

76 Number of individuals who gained knowledge related to financial management through the Securing Financial Stability program

500 Number of producers implemented sustainable practices as a result of participating in Extension Programs

25 Number of individuals addressed community problems by assessing community needs, developing and implementing solutions

551 Number of youth who apply the skills learned in 4-H

425 Number of individuals reported improved lifestyles through a focus on proper nutrition, disease and injury reduction and comprehensive health maintenance

Extension At a Glance

ANR Agent, Whitney Carman discusses plant

diseases with participants in the “What’s In

Your Garden” class.