Spotlighting Carolyn Robinson for Women’s History Month
Baton Rouge, La. – Carolyn Robinson is an Area Agent and a Regional Supervisor for the SU Ag Center’s Family and Human Services/ Nutrition Education in East and West Carroll, Madison, Richland, Morehouse, and Union Parishes.
During her 32 years working in Cooperative Extension, she has served as an Assistant and Associate Field Agent for EFNAP and SNAP-Ed.
Carolyn began her career in Extension at Louisiana State University on June 1, 1993, where she served as an EFNEP Program Supervisor. She became employed with Southern University in 1997, as both the EFNEP Supervisor at LSU and the Supervisor of Southern University’s FF-News, currently called SNAP-Ed.
She has held several titles at the SU Ag Center including the Supervisor of the FF-News Family First Nutrition Education Wellness Systems Program at FF-News (SNAP-Ed), and Assistant and Associate Area Agent.
Carolyn said she selected the field of agriculture after exploring several majors.
“I started in social work and that kind of gave me what I wanted to be able to help people in the community, but it limited me in what I wanted to do,” she remembered. “I was informed that Extension had a position, and I applied for it. I could see from the first day I started working in Extension that it was exactly what I wanted to do. My passion was to help people, and I don’t think I could have picked any other occupation that would give me the justification to help individuals improve their lives and have a better quality of life,” expressed Robinson.
In her work, Carolyn teaches parenting, financial management, and anger management classes. She also trains nutrition educators, teaches nutrition lessons to junior high and high school students, and nutrition education lessons and MyPlate at Head Start Center. She also assists the elderly in the completion of their Personal Health Manuals.
“I write down all the medication they are taking in the manual if someone finds them incoherent, they will have a list of all their medications, their doctor’s name, and have all of their information on hand so they can be transported to the hospital,” Carolyn explained.
In addition to this Carolyn’s unit holds summer Creating Health Enjoyable Foods (CHEF) Camps for youth and
provides nutrition information to Senior Centers, The Council on Aging, and assisted living centers.
“It is a lot of work, but we enjoy it,” said Carolyn. “What makes me happiest is when people come back to me and tell me things that I have taught or said to them that has made a difference in their lives. That just satisfied my whole heart.”
Carolyn said her proudest contributions in her career were receiving her Active Parenting Certificate and working with the youth and the elderly.
“Everything starts with our parents,” she explained. “If we have good parents we will have good children,” she said. “I’m so proud that I started the CHEF Camps in East and West Carroll and from there all the other parishes had to get on board to hold the camps after I discussed my success. I had as many as 42 students each day of the camp. I enjoy teaching these young people how to prepare food for themselves and their siblings so if their mother is sick or has to work late, they can prepare food without turning on a stove or worrying about burning the house down because we teach them to cook meals and healthy snacks on griddles. I like working with elderly people. They are still our educators, and we can learn more from them than we can from a book,” she added.
Carolyn’s contributions to Cooperative Extension can be felt throughout the Parishes she serves. She is truly a trailblazer in the field of Agriculture.