New to community, not to extension: The Mail-Journal/InkFreeNews.com

A new face has come to the Kosciusko County Purdue Extension.

Taking over the position recently vacated by Joan Younce, Stephanie Faroh is the new health and human sciences educator at the extension.

She received her undergraduate degree from Indiana University Bloomington in dietetics, and her graduate degree from Ball State University in nutrition. Faroh is also a registered dietician and specializes in foods and nutrition.

Her first experience with the Purdue Extension was an internship with them in Hendricks County. Then, she worked as a registered clinical dietician throughout northern Indiana. After hearing Mary Ann Leinhart-Cross, the Elkhart County Extension director and health and human sciences educator, speak at a dietician meeting, she decided to get back into the Extension program.

Faroh’s next venture was to the Elkhart County Purdue Extension, working with Leinhart-Cross. There, she worked half of the time as the health and human sciences educator, and half with the 4-H youth development program. Though she really liked working with all the 4-H kids, she wanted to get back to her roots in nutrition.

“I had a wonderful mentor in Elkhart County. Mary Ann Leinhart-Cross, she’s been in Extension for a long time, so she’s got a lot of words of wisdom,” she said, “Then, the Homemakers there too taught me so much about how the Indiana Extension Homemaker Association works, so I’m coming to Kosciusko County with that great background, and I’m really looking forward to working with the homemakers in Kosciusko County.”

Bringing along her experiences from Elkhart County, she is ready to take on a full-time health and human sciences educator position. Included in her job description is teaching lessons in areas, such as human development, family resource management, health, foods and nutrition.

After only being at the Kosciusko County Purdue Extension for about a month, she has already taught her first class, a lesson on CPR and first aid. In the future she will teach many other classes, like Dining With Diabetes, Si Yo Puedo Controlar Mis Diabetes, food safety, and even some with the homemakers. All of the classes she leads are based on community needs.

In addition to her lessons, she works at the extension office answering phones, interacting with her new community, conducting interviews for new staff, checking emails for various committees and participating in conference calls with Purdue University Extension and other organizations.

Outside of extension, she is a part of the Northern Indiana Dietetic Association, and meets with them quarterly. She also attends the Sacred Heart Church in Warsaw.

Originally from Logansport, Faroh lived in Goshen when she worked with the Elkhart County Extension. However, there was more than just a new job that brought her to Warsaw and to the Kosciusko County Extension. She recently got married to her new husband Jimmy Faroh. They live together in Warsaw with their goldendoodle dog, Norm.