BACK TO SCHOOL
BACK TO SCHOOL
Tips
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“There are creative ways to offer meals! When everything shut down, we wondered how we were going to offer meals, how to continue Farm to School, etc. andwith a diverse team, we figured out solutions! Just like many districts across the country, we offered meals in any way we could, and we continued our Farm to School efforts by using local NY food. We just changed how it was prepared or packaged.” “We began serving breakfast in the classroom and it was a huge success! We are going to continue doing it this year. Our participation jumped from about 20% to over 95%!!” “Like most districts we were pre-portioning all items to minimize high-touch areas. While we hope to return to self-service for some items, others will stay portioned. Veggie sticks, cubed melon, and grapes flew off our shelves simply by putting them in a tall plastic cup with a lid! We learned it’s worth a little experimentation to discover what your students prefer, especially if it means they’ll eat more veggies!” How have you been able to Inspire or motivate your staff? “By continuing to reiterate how important it is for families to have access to food during a crisis and sharing with them the feedback from the community and from parents.” “I stood right by my staff every step of the way. There was not a single thing that I asked my staff to do that I would not have done myself. They watched our program take on the monumental task of preparing and delivering meals to over 600 students at one time and succeed at that feat. Showing them that we could do anything with planning and hard work made them feel inspired to get through the year!” “I learned that Pizza Hut Corp told local franchises to choose one organization a month to honor, so I am working with our local Pizza Hut to honor the staff in September.” “Create an active work environment by encouraging movement, like Workout Wednesdays!”
“Play upbeat music to create a fun work environment. Find the good in every day. What about today made you smile?”
As School Nutrition Professionals enter another unpredictable school year, we asked food service directors from all across the state to share some of their tips and best practices with their fellow operators! What are the best ways to successfully market your programs? Social Media! “A positive social media presence to engage with both students and families can showcase all the great things that you are doing in your program. Sometimes marketing to their parents creates more success than to the actual students.” “Build anticipation by releasing snippets of information about a new item or recipe” “Leverage social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) to get the word out about free school meals, farm to school, and other school nutrition related information.” Networking! “Get involved with other members of the school community (Teachers, Coaches, Nurses, etc.) to help promote your programs and increase participation. Students often relate to a teacher or coach, value their input and often see them as a role model.” “I work with my Public Information Officer a lot to get our message/information out to the community. We are also present at PTA meetings and other school functions.” Students! “Have some Q&A with the student government. Have some student cooking contests – students get involved and tell their friends!” “Students love sampling and freebies… Try it, you will love it.”
What is a lesson learned, or a change that you made during COVID-19 that you will be keeping going forward? “We are more flexible than we know, and we can adapt easier than any other department and we have the most passionate employees!” “COVID allowed me to move a lot of our in-house processes that we were doing in an antiquated way into the new digital age. We were able to make lunch ordering across all levels of the district simple and easy.” “We are continuing to have our middle and high school students pre-order their deli sandwich in the morning. They choose if they want a fruit or vegetable and their drink. It is a little more work in the morning, but a blessing at lunch times.” “Be Mobile. If items are stored on pallets or speed racks it is easier to move to a new location if there is a last-minute change. Set up the storage rooms /cold storage areas to replicate the meal pattern. If you run out of a fruit item, go to the fruit aisle, and replace it with any other available fruit i “ t I e o m ff . e ” red grab and go breakfast and snacks at the entrances and exits, and this increased my participation in both of those programs, especially breakfast. I think kids do want to eat breakfast, but they are just so pressed for time in the morning that it was convenient for them to grab their breakfast in a bag and head to class.” “Breakfast in the classroom at all levels. Now that the teachers have been doing it for the past year and half, I am going to push to keep it.” “More grab and go items. We realized that the students have such limited time, and this helps them take the meal and go right to their classes.”
“Dailymeetings to touchbasewithkeyplayers and keep them engaged in the loop of communication. Team shout-outs!” “Keep a positive attitude and keep your team informed of what is going on. Sometimes as directors, we don’t know what is going on until the last minute, but sharing that information as soon as possible always helps.” “We started a Golden Spoon Award to recognize our school nutrition professionals who were doing incredible work during the pandemic. This award created a lot of buzz in the districts and was a great way to motivate staff. Winners were recognized on social media, in the school district, and received a golden spoon and certificate!” “I like to set out a vision of who we are. What we do and the implications of doing it well.” “We spend more time with the people we work with throughout the school year than our families, so it is important to make the most of it. Feeding our children has a value that is bigger than the individual and is honorable. It’s a gift to work with children, feed children and be together in this experience. When we take the 40,000ft view of what we do we get to see the potential ripples we can make in the lives of those around us and those we serve.”
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FreshBites
FALL 2021
FreshBites
FALL 2021
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