Youth Cooking School

Hello! My name is Samantha McCann and I am a junior majoring in Agricultural Leadership Education.  This past summer I was an intern at the Unit 22 branch of Illinois Extension, which consists of Monroe, Madison, & St. Clair counties.  

While located in Monroe County for majority of my internship, my main project was to be in charge, with my co-
intern, of Youth Cooking School held in Monroe County.  Youth Cooking School is an educational program aimed toward teaching ages 9-13 about nutrition & meal planning, food preparation skills, the importance of physical activity, and healthy food choices.  By teaching youth about this, they can in turn help their families to make overall better health choices.

 The sessions were three hours long, for one week each (with eight sessions held throughout the summer in total). We taught the YCS participants about gluten allergies, raw eggs/raw meat, cooking terms, and the My Plate just to name a few things! As for recipes, we made items such as Spinach Smoothies, Gluten-free White Bean Brownies, Cheddar Biscuits, Ranch Porkchops, cupcake decorating, and many more!  This summer has been a  great experience as being in charge of a program, as my co-intern and I were the ones who oversaw and taught the whole four weeks of Youth Cooking School. I am so grateful for this opportunity, and I haven't learned more about youth and Illinois Extension in general than I ever thought possible! Thank you Unit 22 for making my summer a great one!