KSU Family and Consumer Sciences promotes healthy homes and communities
D r. Joanne Bankston leads Kentucky State University's Cooperative Extension Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) program. Family and Consumer Sciences Extension
programs at KSU are designed to strengthen families and to improve their quality of life through educational outreach efforts that connect research to their everyday lives. Many of these programs assist limited-resource audiences and focus on food and nutrition, promoting healthy lifestyle choices, strengthening the family at every lifecycle stage, building financial security and stability, Hispanic outreach programs, disaster preparedness, and promoting healthy homes and communities.
Dr. Bankston promotes her curriculum packages for educational programs to general audiences, youth, and agents. Some of her work includes “Get More Bang for Your Buck: A Plan for Spending Your Money,” “Stretching Your Holiday Dollar,” “MoneyPower: Wise Decisions About Your Money and Your Life for College Students,” “Blue Jeans and Tennis Shoes: Planning a Comfortable and Happy Retirement,” and “Legally Secure Your Financial Future.”
“I am most proud of the fact that for more than 40 years I have had the opportunity to work with and provide educational programs to Kentucky citizens and groups and organizations nationwide to assist them in improving their quality of life,” Bankston says.
groups and organizations nationwide to assist them in improving their quality of life," Bankston says.
KSU’s FCS program serves communities across the state focusing on Ballard, Butler, Campbell, Clay, Fulton, Graves, Hardin, Henderson, Grayson, Johnson, Kenton, Knox, McClean, Mercer, Monroe, Pike, Rockcastle, and Simpson counties in the last year. The university has Family and Consumer Sciences Extension agents in Fayette County (Carla Jordan), Jefferson County (Monique Pearce-Brady), and Kenton County (Linda Brown-Price). Other FCS programs offered include an earned income tax credit program, Dr. Bankston’s work with General Electric, and Kentucky State University’s Rosenwald Center for Families and Children, which is located on the college’s main campus in Frankfort.
Recently, Dr. Bankston was named a Legend in Family and Consumer Sciences at the 2016 annual conference and expo of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences with the unveiling of her biography in the publication, Leaders in Family and Consumer Sciences. She is also the recipient of the Excellence in Extension award from the Association of Extension Administrators for her outstanding contributions to Cooperative Extension at an 1890 Land Grant Institution.
Dr. Joanne Bankston, Family and Consumer Sciences Program Coordinator and State Extension Specialist