Category: EFNEP

Situation:
The onset of the COVID19 pandemic in March 2020 presented pragmatic and logistic challenges to conduct traditional face to face, hands-on and interactive Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) workforce training.   In order to reduce the spread of COVID19 and overcome the hinderance of social distance, the EFNEP management team developed a creative and strategic plan to transition face to face training to virtual learning to our EFNEP staff and EFNEP participants. Since 1969, EFNEP remains devoted to reaching low-income citizens where there are and embracing best practices for (virtual) learning. The Clemson University’s EFNEP team utilized the EFNEP National Guidelines for Social Media and best practices for effective online teaching to develop EFNEP virtual online learning workforce development training.

Educational Response:
From March to present, Marlyne Walker, Registered Dietitian and EFNEP Training Coordinator / State Specialist has conducted and facilitated 5 different virtual workforce development trainings. Some of the trainings consist of multiple days and totaling over 40 hours. The EFNEP workforce trainings are designed for EFNEP nutrition educators to teach EFNEP participants- youth and adults. All the EFNEP interactive trainings were held on ZOOM. The initial training consisted of Tips to Reach and Teach EFNEP Participants/ Classes Online. It was a collaborating effort conducted with the EFNEP management team and an EFNEP agent. Also, Walker trained 9 newly hired EFNEP nutrition educators on the adult curriculum and middle/ high school curriculum.  In addition, Walker planned quarterly EFNEP Check-In.  She has facilitated two EFNEP Check-In for all EFNEP team members. The purpose of the EFNEP Check- In is to promote team building, review nutrition concepts and/or demonstrate ways to engage and interact with EFNEP participants online.

Outcome/ Impact:
After attending the EFNEP training, 100% EFNEP nutrition educators reported to be able to use some, most or all the content/ strategies in their county program. EFNEP nutrition educators were able to reach 306 adults with 100% graduation (completing series of 9 lessons) and changes in decrease consumption of solid fat and added sugar (SoFAS) and 81% improvement in food resource management.  In addition, EFNEP nutrition educators reached 2326 youth (130 groups) with 82% graduation that is completing a series of 6 lessons. The end of year report revealed 82% of youth improved diet quality and 57% improved physical activity.

The Health Extension for Diabetes program is a free diabetes self-management and support group. The program has been recognized by the American Diabetes Association as a practice-tested diabetes self-management and support program. The main goal of this program is to help you to better manage your diabetes so that you prevent or delay complications. The program includes 7 education sessions and 7 support sessions designed to help you learn more about diabetes and provide you with the necessary skills and support that you need to successfully self-manage your diabetes.

The program is funded by the Greenville Health Authority. The classes are delivered by a Health Extension Agent with Clemson Extension in a partnership with Prisma Health-Upstate. Your health coach will provide you with bi-weekly materials, facilitate weekly group discussion, and provide weekly follow-up to help navigate resources and assist you in reaching your healthy lifestyle goals.

The program is available both online or in-person. Online groups are held by Zoom, and in-person groups are held at various locations. Choose an available class time that fits your schedule: 10-11am, 12-1pm, or 5-6pm.

Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.

Select a Date to Participate

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It’s not unknown that the times we currently are unprecedented, uncertain, and in no way easy. However, the Clemson Extension Services in Spartanburg County certainly has not stopped serving our Community.

As we continued to get used to what we know as “the new normal,” we could see people being less anxious, the businesses opened their doors, and the economy started improving. Our county offices are open to the public, and we, the EFNEP Nutrition Educators, finally got the approval to start in-person sessions (classes).

As the Nutrition Educator for Spartanburg County, I have gained more confidence in virtually delivering our programming. Online teaching allows me to reach out to more learners. I make my schedule and myself very flexible to offer them the opportunity to fit our classes into their busy schedule, delivering lessons often after regular work hours not to feel the need to drop out.

Although in-person classes are now permitted, we also offer our learners a choice to learn online. I can assure you that we never let our guard down and continued our practices of wearing a face covering, social distancing, washing hands, continually encouraging our clientele to do the same. At the same time, we were promoting the COVID-19 vaccine among current and former learners through Facebook EFNEP Group.

In Spartanburg County, several learners completed and graduated from their Eating Smart ~ Being Active classes throughout this year. Another group, large also, is about to graduate.

It is always rewarding seeing them acquiring knowledge, making better choices; like one of the learners said, “no matter how much you think you know, with the ESBA lessons, you can always learn something new.” It is gratifying hearing their “wows” when learning things that we may take for granted, like reading Nutrition Facts Labels or the amount of fat and sugar present in the foods they eat and amazed by how simple it can be to “Make a Change.”

Although recruiting youth learners during the pandemic was and continues to represent a challenge, knowing that parents and guardians are betting for a healthier lifestyle is somehow a relief because adults oversee grocery shopping and meals preparation. In other words, while the adults are learning, they’re passing on that knowledge to their children, which means the benefit is for the whole family.

Now, with the raising of the COVID cases, a good percentage of Spartanburg County residents hesitates to get vaccinated for COVID-19; Clemson EFNEP in

Spartanburg County is assisting with the Extension COVID Immunization Training and Education (EXCITE) grant. The purpose is to hear the barriers our Hispanic Community finds, the reason not to get vaccinated. Acquiring this information firsthand, directly from them, will help the USDA better understand these challenges and join the fully vaccinated population.

With the arrival of the 2021-2022 school year, EFNEP Nutrition Educator in Spartanburg Co keeps getting back into the school districts to reach the youth. The purpose is to teach our children what is better for them when selecting foods. Choosing nutrient-dense foods instead of empty calories is always a challenge, but we know that “what is learned well is never forgotten”.

We continue not just dreaming but working hard to see the number of COVID-19 cases decrease and wish for a safe world; let’s believe it will be a reality shortly.

I can say I am appreciative of my job’s opportunity to help others by delivering vital information towards a healthier lifestyle.

Finally, I would like to share a quote I find very inspiring. “We don’t grow when things are easy; we grow when we face challenges.” This past year has undoubtedly made us face challenges, therefore, helped me grow as a person and an educator.

Evelyn Santana

EFNEP Multicultural Nutrition Educator

Spartanburg County

South Carolina, as the rest of the world, since March-2020, is facing unprecedented circumstances due to the world pandemic for COVID-19. The Clemson EFNEP statewide family as every South Carolinian, learned to live a new lifestyle. We acquired new hygiene routines, social distancing routines, etc. Clemson EFNEP canceled all in person classes statewide and stopped teaching in the schools as these, also closed their doors to the public.

Our beloved children, adult learners’ lives, and their safety, became our first priority. Life as we had always known, was changed overnight and the new lifestyle presented us with new challenges, this did not stop the EFNEP team to caring for our consumers and found innovative ways to serve the Spartanburg Co. community.

We came up with methods and systems all new to us to thrive in our passion for serving our consumers Evelyn Santana, the appointed EFNEP Nutrition Educator for Spartanburg Co. steadily worked with our partners throughout the county to do what we do best, teaching nutrition lessons and keeping Spartanburg residents, a little healthier.  As of today, we can say that the EFNEP Nutrition Educator for Spartanburg Co Extension Office has been working hard to teach youth and adults, taking advantage of the extra time parents and children had to spend at their homes. The Eating Smart Being Active Curriculum is taught to adults, in both English and Spanish, these are a series of lessons, 100% free of cost for low-income families caring for children ages 18 and under.
If you or someone you know would like to take advantage of these classes, do not hesitate to contact us. Evelyn can be reached at the Spartanburg County Office’s telephone number (864) 491-0421 or at easanta@clemson.edu for virtual classes

Gina Gilbert is a Nutrition Educator with EFNEP (Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program) and Clemson University Extension in Greenwood County.   Gina delivers nutrition education to youth & adults with limited resources in four core areas: diet quality and physical activity, food resource management, food safety and food security.  She believes that education empowers people to live healthier and more gratifying lives and she is passionate to share her knowledge and skill set with others.

She has successfully graduated over 400 students in the Saluda County district school system and over 25 adults since November of 2018 and is looking forward to expanding those numbers here in Greenwood County.  She holds a B.A. in the field of Interdisciplinary Social Science from the University of South Florida and in her spare time, she is currently seeking certification as a nutritionist through NASM (National Association of Sports Medicine).

For more information on EFNEP related issues and programs, please contact Gina Gilbert by email at gmgilbe@clemson.edu or phone at 864-223-3264.

Becoming a nutrition educator has inspired me on so many levels. Working within the Clemson EFNEP (Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program) family has allowed me to connect with fellow EFNEP educators. These educators share a passion for helping others make their lives better through nutrition education. My fellow educators go above and beyond to not only excel in their own jobs but to assist new educators such as myself in adjusting to our new roles serving our specific counties. McCormick County is a beautiful place, and I am thrilled to be assigned to this location and strive to do my best.

Covid-19 has brought its own set of challenges, as we all know. Still, I feel that our team of educators, supervisors, and trainers have stepped up to provide support for each other during this difficult time. We are all learning together and accomplishing goals that would not have been possible without modern technology. We have all had a willingness to learn every step of the way. We currently offer classes via zoom and are still able to be a valuable resource to our communities. The courses we offer are for our CHFFF (Choose Health: Food, Fun, and Fitness) curriculum, Teen Cuisine curriculum, and ESBA (Eating Smart: Being Active) curriculum. These curriculums can reach groups of various age ranges beginning with elementary school children all the way to adults. Our EFNP training instructors provided a way for new nutrition educators, such as myself, to complete our training online as well, and that has been a blessing.

Recruiting program participants is at the forefront of our minds. We recruit in various ways through specialized flyers created for us, social media, and by reaching out to current and previous participants. It is currently a slow-going process because while we are adjusting to virtually providing education to the community, our communities are adjusting as well. However, we are not giving up! We are still here! Although our groups are a little smaller than they would have been prior to the pandemic, we are always here working to teach and inspire others to make healthy nutrition choices through education. I am honored to be a part of such an amazing group of people and to have the opportunity to help the McCormick (and Abbeville) community.

For more information on EFNEP related issues and programs, please contact Brandi Anderson by email at banders@clemson.edu or phone at 864-465-5033.