"Make [food] simple and let things taste of what they are." {Curnonsky}
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
WVU Extension Service
Community
From July 2- August 7, 2012 I worked with the Monongalia County Extension Service to complete 200 hours of supervised practice in Community Nutrition.
My experiences were varied, and I worked with a variety of populations in the surrounding community.
Week 1: Learned about the Extension Service, visited the summer literacy program Energy Express, and developed curriculum for 4-H Camp.
Week 2: Taught cooking classes at 4-H Camp. Click on the links below to see the curriculum we developed.
Day 1: Whole Grains and Dairy
And here is the Recipe Book that we gave to each student.
Week 3: Helped the Youth Nutrition Outreach Instructor (NOI) teach at the Boys and Girls Club, and helped out with a cooking class held at the Extension office. Developed and implemented a nutrition lesson with high school students.
Week 4: Assisted at the Boys and Girls Club once again, and this time delivered the lesson in collaboration with one other intern. Worked with Families and Health Extension Agent to provide two "Home Food Preservation" workshops.
Week 5: Another week of 4-H Camp, this time the "Cloverbuds" Day Camp, with 5-8 year old students.
Overview of Camp
Day 1: Fruit
Day 2: Vegetables
Day 3: Protein
Day 4: Grain
Day 5: Dairy
Each child went home with this Recipe Book.
Here are a few photo memories of the time with Extension:
From February 13 to February 28, 2013, I was privileged to be able to complete a WIC rotation at the Community Action Program of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Throughout the 80+ hours of my rotation, I was able to learn about the “big-picture” policy, and shadow a large number of nutritionists in both the main Lancaster City clinic and in the smaller county clinics in Columbia and Ephrata.
I developed a basic understanding of WIC policy, and refreshed my knowledge on maternal and child nutrition. In particular, the developmental stages of infants and the recommended timeline for introducing new foods and feeding practices was a good review. The opportunity to practice my Spanish language skills and enhance my vocabulary- particularly the colloquial “Spanglish” spoken in the region- was beneficial.
I need to continue to develop my nutrition counseling skills, and I believe that this will come with more experience. In particular, I would like to continue to strengthen my ability in helping the client to share what motivates them to change, and help them to identify ways that they could make that change.
As a component of my rotation, I developed an in-service on the national program "Text For Baby". Click on the link below to take a look!
