Volunteer Spotlight

Getting To Know Katie Stern, Cooking Matters Nutrition Educator

Katie is a nutrition student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who will be graduating this December. She first heard about Cooking Matters a few years during a presentation at her student club on campus. Katie had been looking for a volunteer opportunity and decided to give Cooking Matters a try, and soon realized how important it meant to her. She started volunteering as a “Class Assistant” in the spring of 2008, and although she doesn’t remember her first class she really wishes she did! Since the, Katie has taught so many classes (30 to date). “They all start to run together in my memory after awhile!” 

Katie’s interest in nutrition developed in high school when she realized how much of an effect food has on the body. “Food is apart of everyday life and plays many roles, including the role of bettering one’s overall health,” she said.

When Katie isn’t volunteering with Cooking Matters, she spends a lot of her free time working on graduate school applications and finishing up undergraduate work. She also loves to read and write, and admits to be somewhat of a sports junkie (with specific interest in football and baseball).

If Katie could give advice to anyone considering volunteering with Cooking Matters, she would say, “Just jump in. Once you get involved (for whatever reason), I can almost promise you’ll fall in love with being involved with an organization that is making a difference in our community.”  She also had some great advice for her teen participants who were leery about learning nutrition and tasting new foods. “Just THINK about it. You never know, you might end up learning something new that will make you a healthier person and end up really liking it!”