Get To Know the Berks County WIC Dietetic Interns!
Shortly after graduating from West Chester University, Maddie Tsakonas, Justine Trego, and Carlee Lasko joined the MFHS team. While having the opportunity to work as full time CPA’s, they were simultaneously completing their master’s degree in Community Nutrition, which has fulfilled just one more step to their end goal: being Registered Dietitians. Starting January 2024, the requirements for becoming an RD were increased a bit more and required a master’s program be completed along with an internship of 1,000 supervised practice hours. Now, this may sound like a lot… and it is. The interns can attest that it has been a challenging but rewarding journey so far, and the experiences with WIC have prepared them for many future endeavors. Keep reading to hear a little bit about the interns, what they’ve been up to, and their plans as future dietitians!
Meet the Interns:
My name is Maddie Tsakonas, I started working at the Berks County WIC office in June of 2023, very shortly after graduating with my B.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics at WCU. My passion for nutrition started at a young age with playing sports and always having an interest in health and wellness. During my time with MFHS, I have become more comfortable with my nutrition education skills and creating relationships with families of many different backgrounds. I feel my connection with participants offers them a sense of comfortability and self-efficacy, which I plan to incorporate in future practices. I have developed a passion for helping parents fuel their children with sustainable healthy lunches to keep them alert and ready to learn in the classroom while also on a budget. This is an area I can see myself as a future RD and hope to implement my love for nutrition no matter where life takes me!
My name is Justine Trego, and I worked as a CPA in the Berks County office for about a year before starting the dietetic internship. I’m so grateful for my time here as I have advanced my counseling skills and enjoyed getting to speak with participants and build relationships. I now have a passion for educating parents that eating healthy meals is attainable and sustainable. I’d like to promote home-cooked meals and encourage families to be confident in making grocery lists and following recipes. I believe education at this level can alter the stigma around healthy eating and change lifestyle habits. I’m interested in what the future holds and can’t wait to further my fascination with nutrition and this profession!
My name is Carlee Lasko, I also worked as a CPA in the Berks County office for close to a year before coming on as an intern for the dietetic internship through West Chester University. I graduated with my B.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics in 2023, then I decided to continue my path of becoming an RD and doing the internship along with graduate school. From having the opportunity of working at MFHS prior it has expanded my knowledge on pregnancy, infants and children. It has also allowed me to become more confident in my nutrition education skills and allowed me to educate participants. I have really enjoyed my time working at MFHS along with being an intern, but I am still figuring out what I want to do. I would love to work with athletes, a school district or in a private practice that specializes in eating disorders, so I am excited to see what my future holds!
Responsibilities As Interns
As previous CPAs at the Berks County WIC office, it was a bit odd to adjust to a non- appointment based schedule. Although we enjoyed our time being nutritionists, we knew that as interns we would have the opportunity for other responsibilities within the office. This includes helping our previous office coordinator and boss, Katie Hettinger, with different tasks that may not get as much “TLC” as they should. This includes making welcome packets for families, behind the scenes in PENN that we did not see as CPA’s, going to outreach events and representing MFHS, and more. Our District Manager, Corina Moser, serves as our preceptor for the program, and both her and Katie have been awesome, allowing us to be creative in all of these aspects. Each of us has a day to take appointments, which keeps us in the loop of what the current areas of needs are and allows us to grow as current and future nutrition educators. As we finish up our few final weeks in this first rotation of our internship, we are concluding final parts to our projects that will potentially be used to the benefit of the participants that the Berks County office sees daily. Some of our projects in the works include cooking classes for parents, ways to make shopping easy and affordable for WIC participants, and some quick and healthy lunch ideas for school aged children. We hope to share what we work on in the coming weeks!