Henderson County Cooperative Extension has a new face in the office these days. We are proud to welcome Lizbeth (Liz) Nieto as our new EFNEP Program Assistant. EFNEP is the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program and works toward educating both youth and adults in the benefits of good nutrition and exercise.

Liz is from Hendersonville and graduated from East Henderson High School. She earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental science and Spanish from Guilford College in Greensboro. Liz comes to us from IC Imagine Charter School in Asheville where she served for one year as an exceptional children’s teacher.

In that role, Liz was responsible for adapting curriculum to student's needs and abilities, collaborating with other educators and administrators about scheduling, student equipment, behavior intervention plans, and health & safety plans. This included close contact with individual tutors, parents, and colleagues about the progress made on students' education

plans.

Liz is bilingual and has taught English as a second language through the reading connections program in Greensboro. In this role, she was mostly teaching parents of children in kindergarten through middle school. She was responsible for community outreach fully in Spanish. She spoke with churches, radio stations, and other nonprofits in Greensboro. Liz was accountable for making literature for the services they provided and translations of literature, and presentations. This ability will serve her well in her new position.

The first three months of her tenure will involve training to learn the EFNEP curriculum and teaching strategies. After she has completed her training, she will be spending time in classrooms across the county, teaching youth from grades K-12 about proper nutrition, how to find and budget for the right foods and good activity habits.

Studies have shown that teaching these age groups on these basic principles, not only changes behavior of the children in these areas, but also often causes parents to adopt better habits as well. Teachers interested in having this program in their classrooms should contact Liz at the Extension office (828.697.4891).

Another element of Liz’s program will to reach adult audiences with children to teach similar materials. Liz will be looking for groups that would like to have this curriculum in their programs. Non-profits, churches and any other entity that would like to have Liz as a speaker should contact her as well. Once she completes her initial training, she will be able to schedule these workshops.

We are so glad to have Liz on board in our office. Please welcome her and prepare to benefit form her program after her training period is complete. Liz should be ready to start scheduling classes around the first of September. Drop by and visit Liz or give her a call.