Contact: Kathleen Phillips, 979-845-2872, ka-phillips@tamu.edu
COLLEGE STATION — Alicia Bradley has received the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s Superior Service Award in the office support category.
Bradley is an AgriLife Extension nutrition education associate with the agency’s Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program in Harris County.
The award, presented Jan. 6 during the Texas A&M AgriLife Conference in College Station, is given to staff who demonstrate outstanding performance or who provide exceptional service to AgriLife Extension, an educational outreach agency of the Texas A&M University System.
Bradley has been a member of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program for 27 years. The program’s goal is to assist low-income families in gaining the knowledge, skills, attitudes and changed behaviors necessary for nutritionally sound diets.
“She has contributed to the county’s nutritional well-being with her dedication to serve families by providing nutrition education classes through communities in Harris County,” according to the nomination. “Alicia always seeks new and different partnering opportunities. Her bilingual capabilities allow her to address multiple audiences, and she has been found trustworthy by the community.”
One example cited was Bradley’s partnership with Pasadena Independent School District, Galena Park Independent School District, Purple Sage Elementary, Red Bluff Elementary and Neighborhood Centers Inc., to recruit, plan, implement and evaluate the Healthy Foods/Healthy Families curriculum. The goal of that curriculum is to educate parents on the benefits of nutritious and healthy lifestyle changes for their families.
“Through the sessions and weekly take-home goals, Mrs. Bradley enrolled over 1,017 families into the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program for 2011-13,” the nomination noted.
As a result, 75 percent said they more often prepared foods without adding salt, 79 percent said they used the nutrition facts on food labels to make choices and 52 percent said they more often thought about healthy food choices when deciding what to feed their families.
Program results also showed that participants increased their consumption of dairy, fruit and vegetables — foods that have been shown to lower the incidence of obesity and the risk of many chronic diseases.
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