President’s Message
President Elect’s Message
OFFICERS
OFFICERS
Happy Summer planning. By now, most of you probably have your summer plans ready to roll out as the school year comes to a close. Hopefully, you will be able to enjoy some time off before you roll right in to summer. I wanted to take a few minutes to do a re-cap of the lessons I learned over the past school year. For months I have been telling myself that I can’t wait till it’s over and hopefully get back to some sense of normalcy. What I’ve learned over the past year is this…the new normal is constant change. Are you ready to continue to roll the changes? With USDA extending the Summer Feeding Waivers, I can only assume that the next school year will be filled with it’s own set of changes. I am confident that we will meet them as we always have…with smiles on our faces taking care of the students we love to see everyday!
This past spring I took part in the School Nutrition Associations Virtual Leadership Conference and I was so thrilled to hear so many participants talk about how NYSNA is a leader across the country, how NYSNA is watched and followed by so many states. It was incredible!! I am so proud to be a part of such a phenomenal group. Our very own Joe Kilmer spoke about governance restructuring and how important it is to the future of every association. He spoke with such honesty and conviction it was so impressive. The spotlight was then put on Jennifer as so many want to question her on how NYSNA operates. When I began my leadership journey with NYSNA, I never imagined I would be part of such an incredible group. The most important things to me were being transparent and inclusive. I believe we have succeeded at both of these. Although they are ongoing, I think we are such a great association, in part, because of these two traits but mostly because of the people involved!
SUSAN BELL President
President Elect
DONNA RIVIELLO
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What I’ve learned over the past year is this…the new normal is constant change.
As we close the books on the 2020- 21 school year, I look back in awe at what we were able to overcome and what we were able to accomplish. The number of students that we were able to feed both in person and remotely was remarkable.
I firmly believe we are doing great things here at NYSNA and that we are the go to resource for school nutrition professionals across the state. Although this past year and half has looked very different, I am thrilled with the manner that NYSNA rose to the challenge in keeping our members engaged. I recently participated in the School Nutrition Associations first Virtual Leadership Conference held in early April. It was illuminating and inspiring to see that many of the ideas and strategies being suggested for Associations to maneuver through this pandemic are already in place and being exercised here at NYSNA. There were several breakout sessions where we were placed in a (zoom) room with other members and when it came time to talk about what we are doing here in New York, everyone was astonished at what we have been able to accomplish. This is all on account of our wonderful headquarters staff. I can’t say enough about our headquarters staff and how forward thinking and motivated they are to ensure that each of our members continue to remain engaged. On any given day, you will find the three of them brainstorming on what new ideas they can come up with to not only stay focused with our membership but to ensure we are continuing to remain relevant in these very uncertain times. I’ve said it before and I will continue to say it…we are very fortunate for this team that we have in our headquarters office. I hope this edition of Fresh Bites finds you well and that you are able to rest and rejuvenate before heading in to the new school year. If you haven’t completed your survey, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions and concerns you may have or with ideas on how we here at NYSNA can support you, your employees and your district. I am truly interested in helping each of you become successful. I long for the days when I can see everyone in person once again. Until then, stay healthy.
As we close the books on the 2020-21 school year, I look back in awe at what we were able to overcome and what we were able to accomplish. The number of students that we were able to feed both in person and remotely was remarkable. The members of our NYSNA community really took child nutrition to the next level. There is hope that when we return in the fall the cafeterias will be full of our students enjoying breakfast and lunch meals at no charge. When this happens, we can breathe a sigh of relief that we made it through these unprecedented times. We will have to keep an eye out to see how things proceed with universal feeding. The time for this is definitely now. Let’s hope those who can make it happen are on the same page. Once again, I want to thank all of you for your hard work in child nutrition and for your support of NYSNA. I hope each of you has a chance to enjoy the summer months. Let us know if we can help you in any way. We are always here for you!!
- Susan -
- Donna -
SUSAN BELL NYSNA President Susan Bell is the Food Service Director for Wilson Central School District, located in Wilson, NY! She has been in Child Nutrition for 22 years and loves school meals. Sue’s goal is to make the Association inclusive to everyone! NY is full of amazing Child Nutrition personnel and they can always turn to NYSNA for all of their School Nutrition needs.
DONNA RIVIELLO NYSNA President Elect Donna Riviello has been a school Food Service Director for the past 11 years currently employed through Wayne Finger Lakes BOCES and working with the Clyde Savannah and North Rose Wolcott Central School Districts. She has been a NYSNAmember for all of my eleven years and she looks forward to serving this organization for the next two years as the current President Elect and future President.
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FreshBites
SUMMER 2021
FreshBites
SUMMER 2021
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