NEP Assistant Training

Today Jennifer and I had to lead train-the-trainer sessions on one of our financial curriculas. We trained Nutrition Education Program assistants. This is a group I haven't worked with before but was eager to get to know them. NEP assistants work primarily with Family and Consumer Sciences agents and educate the county on healthy eating, food safety, etc. Many of their clientele can benefit from financial education, which can easily be incorporated with food budgeting, meal preparation, etc.

Jennifer and I were prepared: handouts copied, activities planned, posters made, PPT saved. We presented two sessions,1 hour and 45 minutes each. We had 50 assistants in each session. Jennifer and I feed off of one another pretty good and were really comfortable with the material by the time the second session rolled around. We both insert our own personal stories and jokes to keep the audience engaged and have a good time with it. Teaching money management concepts can be tedious at times but I like to think we make it fun and interesting.

I absolutely love training and educating others! I love seeing someone shaking their head with understanding. I love seeing someone listening to me intently and I just know they are learning and soaking it all in. I love hearing the personal stories after the presentation,how much they appreciate the information, and how needed it is for their life and others they know. That is rewarding to me and makes all the preparation worth it.

Something that was interesting today while Jennifer and I were teaching/training was the number of people who asked me, "Katie, where are you from?" I would then ask them where they thought I was from. Many answered GA, AL, LA, or MS simply because of my accent! Now that just warms my heart! Kentucky will always be my ol' Kentucky Home but to be mistaken for a deep Southern girl...oooh that gets me excited! I love my accent and it something that makes me unique. I just thought it was funny how many people noticed it today.

I hope y'all had a good day. Now let's wrap up tomorrow and get to the weekend!