Weston County Food Safety and Nutrition Educator Receives UW Extensions Highest Honor

Whether handing out recipes and food samples at farmers markets; teaching menu planning and how to read a nutrition label; or team teaching food safety practices with the local health inspector, Vicki Hayman, Weston County nutrition and food safety educator for the northeast area of the state, engages with people to help them improve their lives.

Hayman was awarded the Jim DeBree Excellence in Extension Award -- University of Wyoming Extension’s highest honor -- during extension’s annual conference in Laramie last month.

As a member of extension’s Healthy Eating Focus team, Hayman teaches food preparation skills; dining with diabetes and other chronic diseases; and the Real Food program, all with hands-on learning and resources to ensure healthy changes last after the end of class.

“Vicki includes innovative approaches and multiple teaching styles to expand her audience and increase program impacts,” says nominator Denise Smith, nutrition and food safety educator in Niobrara County.

Audiences can open a newspaper, turn on the radio or catch a podcast, blog or Pinterest post for new ideas and Hayman’s take on eating for health, fitness and enjoyment.

She prepares a biweekly column for the Weston County Gazette in Upton, The Sundance Times and The High Plains Sentinel in Wright. She submits a monthly column for The Newsletter Journal in Newcastle and articles for UW Extension’s quarterly Backyards and Barnyards magazine for small-acreage landowners.

Publications and curricula co-developed or written by Hayman include “Cooking It Up! Diabetes-Healthy Recipes Everyone Will Love,” “Cooking It Up! Friendly One-Pot Meals from Your Pressure Cooker,” the Real Food curriculum, Calcium Science Investigation curriculum and the Wyoming 4-H Fabric and Fashion Manual.

Hayman promotes interaction and cooperation among agencies and organizations through a variety of roles, Smith says. These include adviser, coalition member, facilitator and liaison.

The Jim DeBree Award is named in honor of the retired Wyoming extension administrator and given to those who demonstrate a high level of professionalism, performance and leadership within their program areas and communities.

Hayman joined UW Extension in 1997 and is based in Newcastle.