BEDFORD — Purdue Extension’s new Health and Human Sciences Educator Grace Thompson is looking forward to the experience of working in Lawrence County.

“I grew up in a small town so I’m familiar with the small town vibe that Bedford and Lawrence County have to offer. That is part of what drew me here,” Thompson said.

Thompson is originally from Lafayette but later lived in Bloomington and Indianapolis before eventually landing in southern Indiana. She attended Indiana University and acquired her bachelor’s degree in social work. She then continued her education at IUPUI in Indianapolis where she earned a MSW (Master of Social Work) degree.

Prior to accepting this new role in Lawrence County, Thompson utilized her background in social work by working closely with children and families in Morgan County.

“I enjoyed working with kids and families but I had a desire to work on more of a community level, to work with community organizations and things like that,” she said. “So this opportunity with Purdue Extension came up. I looked into it and applied. So far, it’s exactly what I was looking for. I’m making a lot of connections in the community. I’m looking forward to being able to do some education and programming here in Lawrence County.”

Thompson made an appearance at the Lawrence County Board of Commissioners meeting at the start of this month where Purdue Extension Director Lesley Lodmell introduced Thompson to the three commissioners and everyone in attendance.

Health & Human Sciences impact

Thompson’s primary responsibility as the health and human sciences educator centers on providing education programs that inform communities about four main areas: health, money, food and family.

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This means that programs largely focus on topics ranging from healthy eating habits to drug awareness or how to successfully manage money. Classes are provided for both adolescents and adults.

“Those are the areas that my programming comes from. It is to bring education and programs to partner with community resources that are already out there to educate the community on different aspects,” she said. “For example, I’m working on doing some financial literacy with third-graders in some different schools in Lawrence County. It’s one of the programs that we have, it’s already built. It’s evidence-based. So it will give me the opportunity to go into third-grade classrooms and teach them about saving and how to be responsible with their money. So that’s just one example of a program that we do.”

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The name of that particular program is Captain Cash. The adult version is titled Where does your money go?

Thompson is still in the process of learning about her new role. Lawrence County’s Purdue Extension office hired her Feb. 14. As a result, she said she has been busy creating relationships with coalitions and stakeholders in the area and learning about available resources. The more she understands the county, the easier it will be for her to develop programs that are tailored to meet the needs of the community.

“Right now, my main focus is making connections in the community. So I’ve been meeting with a lot of different resources like the Economic Growth Council and United Way,” Thompson said. “I am just trying to meet as many people as I can in order to find out what the needs are. Ultimately, the programming and education that I do, I really want it to be focused on the community and be beneficial to the community. I don’t want to put programs out there that people aren’t interested in or don’t feel like they would benefit from. So I really want to find out what the people want and what would be most beneficial to them.”

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Thompson shared some of the training she is looking forward to participating in as part of the new position. She also said she is keen to develop new initiatives and contribute to existing programs that Purdue Extension already provides.

“I can become ServSafe certified, which is something that a lot of people in the restaurant industry will use for proper food handling and things like that,” she said. “We have a Be Heart Smart program, which is focused on heart health. We also have the Dining with Diabetes series to provide education about food and nutrition to people that have diabetes or who have a loved one with diabetes. We have some strengthening families programs. I’m working on getting trained in a program right now for families where parents are divorced and are co-parenting. It’s called Parents Forever.”

Purdue Extension’s role within the community

Purdue Extension is available in all 92 counties across Indiana. The extension service strives to provide research-based information, education and resources to improve the lives of its surrounding communities.

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This is facilitated by a branching collection of partnerships between colleges, universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Purdue Extension focuses on agriculture and natural resources, human and health sciences, economic and community development and 4-H youth development.

Anyone who is interested in learning more about the services that Purdue Extension provides or wishing to sign up for a program can visit here.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: Purdue’s new HHS educator eager to make local connections