Making a difference in Freestone County

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  District Ag Extension Administrator Jay Kingston, accompanied by Erin Davis, Freestone County’s Agriculture and Natural Resource Extension Agent, gives the Commissioners Court a summary of the Extension programming for the past fiscal year. Photo by Roxanne Thompson/For The Recorder

  District Ag Extension Administrator Jay Kingston, accompanied by Erin Davis, Freestone County’s Agriculture and Natural Resource Extension Agent, gives the Commissioners Court a summary of the Extension programming for the past fiscal year. Photo by Roxanne Thompson/For The Recorder

Information provided by Jay Kingston, jay.kingston@ag.tamu.edu Erin Davis, Freestone County Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources

The primary focus of Family and Community Health programs is

• Human nutrition;

• Active living;

• Chronic disease prevention; • Food safety;

• Mental health and wellness; and

• Community safety. These programs are accomplished in the following areas:

I. Chronic Disease Management and Prevention Includes education related to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, coping skills, and food selection and preparation. Those who participated in these areas reported:

• Increased confidence in managing their blood glucose levels;

• Improvement in daily physical activity, at least 30 minutes a day;

• Upward trend to improve control of dietary and self-care behaviors. II. Early Childhood Educator Training Consists of instructor- led and real time webinars focused on providing early childhood educators with the most up-to-date research-based information to ensure the childhood workers provide the best care for the children they work with.

III. Walk Across Texas This is an eight-week program designed to help Texans establish the habit of regular physical activity. Together, each team of up to eight members works toward the goal of walking 832 miles.

IV. Better Living for Texans

This education series provides practical education in the areas of nutrition, food safety, food preparation, gardening and physical activity. The programs help youth and adults prepare healthy meals, improve physical fitness, save money at the grocery store, grow their own foods and adopt better food safety habits.

V. 4-H and Youth Development The Freestone County 4-H program includes 120 members of four organized community clubs and two shooting sports clubs.

Freestone County Fair: 65 youth entered at the 2024 Freestone County Fair; 15 showed rabbits; 20 showed cattle; 24 showed sheep; 36 showed swine; 23 showed goats; eight showed broilers; and eight entered Ag Mechanics entries.

4-H Livestock projects: Six youth exhibited at Heart of Texas Fair; one youth exhibited at East Texas State Fair; eight youth exhibited at the State Fair of Texas; two youth exhibited at Rio Grand Valley; six youth exhibited at the Fort Worth Stock Show; seven youth exhibited at the 4-H livestock projects at the San Antonio Stock Show; nine youth exhibited 4-H livestock projects at the Houston Livestock Show; four youth participated at YG Clay shoot at the Houston Livestock Show; two youth participated in Shotgun at San Antonio Junior Shoot Out; and seven youth exhibited 4-H livestock projects ar Rodeo Austin.

Many other 4-H students completed leadership and personal development projects.

Additionally, nearly a dozen seminars and workshops were completed by adults.