ISU Extension hosts Thrifty Meal Challenge, sewing workshops

School is out and hot weather is here which means that summer fun has begun.

At the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Jefferson County Office, we have kicked off summer with two workshops in June for 4th-12th graders.

On June 4th, Extension held a Thrift Meal Challenge workshop that 17 participants attended. The Thrifty Meal Challenge is a special food and nutrition class project that youth can exhibit at the fair. Participants learned skills like wise use of financial resources, goal setting, planning, and healthy lifestyle choices.

One activity that we did was the MyPlate showdown which helped the participants to identify different food items and categorize them with the corresponding parts of the MyPlate diagram. When the camp was over, all the participants gained an understanding of what the Thrifty Meal Challenge was about and how to make and present the project at the county fair.

The Thrifty Meal Challenge isn’t the only project area youth are interested in. On June 11, our office held a Sewing Workshop at Fairfield High School. The participants learned about the basics of sewing and how to create sewing projects that could be presented at the county fair.

The participants learned about and used sewing notions, such as a seam ripper, hem (seam) gauge, press cloth, etc. They also learned about and used a sewing machine. The participants were able to make a pin cushion and sling bag. All the participants went home with the tools and instructions to make five more projects.

We greatly appreciate the three Jefferson County Open Class ladies who took time out of their busy schedules to come and volunteer during the workshop. Also, a huge thanks to Mrs. Heidi Grunwald for letting us use her classroom and sewing machines.

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