August 2015

Table of Contents

President's Message

Food Preservation and Totally Veggies! Webinars for Members

Explore the NEAFCS.org Website Series: Share position openings in your state.

White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia Welcomes NEAFCS.

Sign up for Pre-conference Workshops!

PILD Reflections Continue to Impact Attendees Long After Conference Has Ended

Important Dates

Members-only Webinar • Totally Veggies
Part B: Sept 15

Members-only Webinar • Exploring Gut Health
Oct 6

NEAFCS 2015 Annual Session • Nov 2-5
White Sulphur Springs, WV

NEAFCS 2016 Annual Session • Sept 12-15
Big Sky, MT

NEAFCS 2017 Annual Session • Oct 15-19
Omaha, NE

NEAFCS 2018 Annual Session • Sept 24-27
San Antonio, TX

View All Events...

National Extension Association of Family & Consumer Science
140 Island Way, Ste 316
Clearwater Beach, FL 33767
(561) 477-8100
[email protected]

President's Message
Peggy Ehlers, Ed.D. (IN), President

Dear NEAFCS Members,

Summer is drawing to a close. I hope you have enjoyed the season. It will not be long until we come together at our national conference. West Virginia will be a beautiful site for the November 2-5, 2015 conference. Many hands are working to prepare for this event. Several individuals have spent long days and nights making sure the conference will be a true learning experience. Your participation will make this event even more special. I look forward to seeing you there.

Board members have been including information about items available on the website. I hope you have been visiting our web-site, neafcs.org, and learning about various elements on it each month.

I am pleased to congratulate Rhea Bentley, Katherine Brandt, and Karen DeZarn who found the key in the July, 2015 newsletter. Look for the hidden key in the newsletter. Please remember, you are the KEY of NEAFCS, Knowledge, Experience and You!

My best to all, have a great month.

Peg
E-mail: [email protected]

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Food Preservation and Totally Veggies! Webinars for Members
Julia Zee (HI), Webinar Subcommittee Chair

Dr. Elizabeth Andress’ presentation on home food preservation research and resources on July 16 drew more than 200 registrants. Unfortunately our webinar system can only accommodate 100 viewers—fortunately, the presentation is available in the webinar archives along with her slides and handouts. www.neafcs.org/webinar-archives.

Next up, learn about “Totally Veggies,” a 4-lesson series curriculum, presented in two parts by Mary Ehret, Frances Alloway, and Dori Campbell of Penn State Extension. Part A on August 4 gave an overview of vegetables, focusing on leafy greens, and Part B on September 15 will be an in-depth review of orange, cruciferous and root vegetables. You need to register separately for Part A and Part B.

Mark your calendar to Explore Gut Health on October 6.

If you’d like to submit a proposal for a webinar presentation, please email me ([email protected]) as our online submission is currently being modified.

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Explore the NEAFCS.org Website Series: Share Position Openings in Your State.
Kathleen Olson (MN), Immediate Past President

Are you interested in seeking an Extension position in another state?  Are you on a search committee and/or assisting your human resource department to secure a candidate with Extension experience?  Are you a Program Leader and seeking a candidate with Extension experience?  The NEAFCS website is a great way to share position openings in your state or be aware of Extension positions available across the country.

How do you find this on the NEAFCS website? Click on the Member Resources tab, then click on Job Opportunities to access the position openings.  It is simple and easy to access this site, and it is another member benefit of NEAFCS.  The more members utilize this site to post positions, the more valuable this resource is to our members. 

Posting is easy to do yourself, or alert your University human resource department of the Job Opportunities page on the NEAFCS website and how to submit a position opening.  Encourage your Human resource department to add this email address to their list for soliciting candidates for Extension positions.  To post a position,  send the position description and deadline date directly to [email protected]. Please provide the description in a Word document. Other formats will not be accepted.

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White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Welcomes NEAFCS.
Dana Wright (WV), WVU-Extension Families and Health Agent

White Sulphur Springs is a small town located in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. The picturesque town gained its name as early as 1778. It was believed by many that the town’s famous springs held a magical ability to heal ailments.  Legend has it that the springs have special powers to cure ailments. The springs' curing ability was quoted by Dr. John Moorman as being “the most highly medicated and efficient mineral water of its class in America, if not in the world.” Research of the mineral springs has revealed that the water is rich in sulfate, calcium, bicarbonate and other minerals (Anderson,B.)

There are plenty of things to do during your visit of this enchanting town. Visitors can spend their evenings doing a variety of outdoor activities from horseback riding, hiking the trails of the Blue Bend Recreation area, or enjoying hayrides. Guests are sure to have their taste buds tickled as the area offers some of the most exquisite dining in the world. Check out Draper’s, The Forum, and In-Fusion for unique experiences at the Greenbrier. If you’re looking to indulge in some down home southern style eating…I recommend that you make your way over to The Mason Jar. These and many more attractions await you during your visit to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. 

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SIGN UP NOW FOR PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS!  Click here to register.

Stress Less with Mindfulness Train the Trainer
Jane Riffe, Ed.D. and Becky Smith, MBA
Bios >>>
 

Stress Less with Mindfulness is a WVU Extension-developed curriculum introducing mindfulness-based skills to change one’s approach to stress.  Simple “practices,” based on the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) protocol are introduced with opportunity for participants to experience their ability to “notice, shift, and practice” their responses to stress. This session will train educators to deliver the 5 session award winning curriculum. * Stress Less includes 5 sessions, each 45-50 minutes long addressing the following topics:

Session 1- Begin with the Breath
Session 2- Mindful Eating
Session 3- Mindful Walking/Thought Surfing
Session 4- Be Kind to Your Mind
Session 5- Laughter is Good Medicine

Session participants will receive a CD with all materials needed to teach and evaluate the class as a day-long retreat or as a worksite 5 week lunch n’learn.

Dining with Diabetes Pre-conference Training
Shari Gallup, Fran Alloway, Lisa Graves, Stephanie Faroh, Dan Remley, Ph.D.
Bios >>>
   

Diabetes continues to grow. It is a serious, expensive, and common disease in the U.S. and around the world. The complications of untreated or undertreated diabetes are devastating. In response, Extension professionals across the country are delivering practical, research-based information through the Dining with Diabetes program. The Dining with Diabetes program is a series of face-to-face classes that include  practical nutrition education and cooking demonstrations to emphasize that preparation of healthy foods can be a part of a healthy lifestyle. 

Come and join this 4-hour workshop as the National Extension Dining with Diabetes Team (NDWD) unveils a new national curriculum, evaluation, resources and recipes.  You will receive the  new national resources and be prepared to offer this in your home state. The National Extension Dining with Diabetes Working Group provides leadership and coordination for unified program delivery and evaluation of Dining with Diabetes.

Learning Objectives:
At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify the basics of how to implement the Dining with Diabetes program in their communities
• Examine updated Dining with Diabetes curriculum, evaluation, recipes and resources
• Identify educators and specialists from around the country
• Understand initiatives of the NDWD and identify ways to make a difference through this national working group
• Evaluate resources and find out how other states market, implement and evaluate the program.

Smart Choice Health Insurance Basics^© Training (concludes with certification)
Bonnie Braun, Ph.D. and Lynn Little 
Bios >>>
 

Have you heard about the award-winning Smart Choice Health Insurance^© program?  Are you certified to teach that program? Don’t know much or anything about teaching health insurance? No matter your answer, the multi-state Health Insurance Literacy Initiative (HILI) team has a new product for you.

Many of your colleagues asked for a shortened version of the two-hour Smart Choice program.  Navigators and outreach workers wanted a version that didn’t require depth of experience in adult education. 

Come to the NEAFCS Smart Choice Health Insurance Basics^© Training preconference and leave with a certificate to teach this new one-hour program.  Leave with an Educator’s Toolkit and ideas from your peers about what works and why they are using this program. Leave with access to materials and follow-up support from the HILI team.

You’ll also learn about other products in the Smart Choice family including the new companion Smart Use Health Insurance Basics^©. And you’ll understand why these entrepreneurial, evidence-based programs demonstrate impact with value for consumers and families, Cooperative Extension and the public. 

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PILD Reflections Continue to Impact Attendees Long After Conference Has Ended
Theresa C. Mayhew  (NY), Vice President for Public Affairs

One of the gratifying parts of this position is reading what each PILD Conference First Timer took away from his or her experience in Washington, DC. Their comments reinforce the conference objectives of providing attendees with a deeper understanding of the Cooperative Extension System, how the work we do matters, and how to best share that message with our elected officials. Read on to see what I mean.

“What a fabulous week.  I had initially started writing thoughts on Tuesday thinking I would 'get ahead' of the game.  However, after Wednesday’s sessions with the Program Leaders I just scrapped everything I wrote previously to tell you - I WANT MORE OF THEM!  Wow -- how amazing was that session for this Extension newbie!  I feel like my light bulbs are all finally turned on and my elevator now reaches the top floor!  The quick bits of info were phenomenal and I wish I could hit rewind and play their words over and over. Additionally I found the sessions on social networking and the final send off so very valuable.  I am so very grateful to have found such an engaging and 'real' crew at the top of NEAFCS. My thanks to NEAFCS to my roomie Debby and my new found friends from all over the Extension world. As I went in to Wednesday’s Hill visits I want you to know that I indeed felt prepared to advocate and educate. But even more so, I am prepared to provide training and education to my councils on how important a role than can play both locally and nationally. Thanks, again!“ – Lori Hayungs, Iowa State

“Since coming to Extension seven years ago, I have tried to make sense of the “alphabet” soup of acronyms and agencies, but have never successfully visualized the order of the agencies and how they all work together. Beginning with our first timer’s opening session on Sunday when we were given the list of acronyms, clear through to my last session meeting with our NEAFCS representatives to the conference, I was able to gain an understanding of our Extension system. I really enjoyed  our FCS session with our National Project Leaders. In addition, I enjoyed learning about things our NEAFCS association is doing and it was great to the impact statement information I submit to our state leaders come full circle. I was nervous about meeting with my legislative leaders but the most important thing I gained from this experience was the opportunity to do so.  I was able to tell my Extension story and hopefully make a difference as they consider the impact we have on the lives of others.” – Christine Kendle, Ohio State University

“Pennsylvania brought a delegation of volunteers and this venue provided a great opportunity to really get to know these advocates and to provide them further insight into FCS programming and our impact on families. Many of our volunteers were familiar with 4-H and agriculture but during our state meeting at PILD, I was able to provide impact information about FCS programs to discuss on the Hill visits. I think the volunteers took away a better understanding of our FCS work. The general sessions better informed me about Extension at the National level. It is easy to get caught up in your local and state activities and sometimes forget about the big picture and the support that we have at this level. Hearing more about the history of Extension is always interesting -- while times change we are still as relevant today as we were 100 years ago. The role play highlighting the Hill visits was wonderful and helped take some of the ‘nervousness’ about the visits away, especially as a first time participant. The social media breakout sessions will be helpful in advancing our FCS programs. While we have a presence on various platforms we are struggling with ways of more effectively communicating information. The sessions provided me with tools and ideas to share with our team as we try to reach a more diverse and younger audience.” – Sharon McDonald, Penn State University

“This conference helped me to realize that it doesn’t matter what area your subject matter is that we all can learn something about how public policy is set.  My most favorite sessions were the NIFA Update by Sonny Ramaswamy, National Program Leaders Panel Discussions and the Association Meeting.  Two speakers I really enjoyed -- E. Norris Tolson and Barbara Chamberlain -- provided real practical information.  It was helpful hearing from the NIFA Program Leaders about what programs they are involved in. I appreciated the NEAFCS association meeting link to this leadership meeting and the roll out of the 2015 impact statements.  I was pleased to see that Oklahoma was mentioned in seven of the statements and would have been included in all eight but the nutrition section was so large that it was broken into two impact statements. At our annual state association meeting, I shared highlights with them about the conference and legislator visits.  Thank you for providing financial support for me to attend this leadership conference.“ – Gale A. Mills, Oklahoma State

Note:  Reflections have been condensed/edited due to space constraints.

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