Ana Pati Garcia enjoys building relationships and interacting with students, parents, teachers, and organizations. As a community outreach worker in Cook County, Garcia provides nutrition education classes in Spanish and English to adults and youth.

One of her greatest successes is hearing former students tell her they are applying the lessons learned in her class—"when we were in preschool, we learned about the foods we must eat daily (GO) and the ones we should eat once in a while (WHOA). In middle school, we are still using what we learned in preschool."

Before joining Extension in 2005, Garcia honed the technical and essential skills she uses daily, running an afterschool program (30 years), as a Spanish instructor (12 years), and teaching adults and youth at summer programs and camps.

Garcia received excellence awards for training, teaching, and organizing from her afterschool program. She also received awards from a local school district for coordinating and teaching Mexican culture and heritage through dance and song.