Lunchroom Rockstars Make School Meals Rock!

“I just want to nominate my little county town school, Clifton ISD. We served a lot of low income families and to see the smiles on the kids faces brought so much joy to the hard work that I myself as a Director did and also my ladies.”

“Silvia Mejia.. Juana Gonzalez & Cristina Levario.. unwavering commitment and fabulous service to students !”

“Successfully coordinated emergency meal program for our district within 3 days of learning of school closures. Our district is not accustomed to providing emergency meals or summer meal programs due to eligibility. It was amazing to see the flexibility and determination to get meals to students in need. The program included grab and go meals along with delivering meals to students via buses. It was an amazing experience and we are now conducting our first Summer Food Service Program. Love the opportunity to serve our community!”

Nominee:

Alison Abdul-Fattah

“Emergency Summer Meals Rockstar! Alison, along with many other Mayfield School Nutrition staff, worked hard since the beginning of the pandemic to assure healthy meals for anyone 18 & under in our community.”

Nominee:

Becky Wirth

“Becky is a wonderful boss to work for. She helps us everyday and always tells us how grateful she is to have us. When we need help cooking she jumps right in. She is so wonderful.”

Nominee:

Bessie Matthews

“Bessie always goes above and beyond in the cafeteria. Goes all out for NSLW and NSBW. The kids love her and look forward to seeing her each day.”

Nominee:

Betty Morrison

“Began a universal breakfast program this year. Participation has been almost doubled!”

Nominee:

Brandon Sheppard

“Since coming to our district and taking over as the Food Service Director, Brandon has made great strides in improving the entire program. He is a thinker, and the question I think he asks the most is ,”How can this be better?” or maybe, “How can we do this better?” He listens to staff, students, and parents, and he cares; he takes it all in and shares his ideas, and he brings everyone in to be a part of the solution. He makes it known every day, that today can and should be better than yesterday.”

Nominee:

Carla Word

“Carla is a light of sunshine to all of our students and staff. She goes above and beyond to do her job. She takes pride in being a WILDCAT and loves what she does and its just shines through her daily. She is the best choice in my book.”

“Carla makes sure that everyone going through the lunch room is having a great day and always smiles.”

“Carla always talks to the children and ask how they are also she makes sure no child goes hungry and buys them their meal or extras if they are picky eaters.”

“Carla is a hard worker she always has a smile great hugger and always taking care of the kids.”

“We are so grateful for our sweet Carla serving our students with a loving heart each and every single day! She loves the kids like a grandmother would! She is devoted and committed to her work and takes great pride in serving delicious and quality food to our students. Our students love and respect her and we all appreciate the love she shows us all on campus!”

Nominee:

Carol Arsenault

“I arrived at my new job on February 20th, started to meet my staff of 18 and visit my 6 schools, then Corvid-19 hit. My 2 kitchen managers and my assistant kitchen manager weren’t working. I needed someone to run one of our kitchens, Carol stepped up. Carol ran the kitchen scheduling, ordering coordination the sites and delivery schedules. With a sunny attitude, willing to make it all happen Carol was my Rock Star! We couldn’t have feed all of our students without her stepping up to make it happen!”

Nominee:

Clarissa Borunda

“Clarissa is always positive and uplifting. She takes such great care of our campus at Willow Vista Early Childhood Academy. We are blessed to have her.”

Nominee:

David Kimball

“Chef David Kimball came to the American Academy of Innovation with 20+ years of experience in the restaurant business to develop.a fresh, house made lunch program. He did not disappoint. Everyone has a favorite whether it is tomato basil soup, mashed potatoes and gravy or something exotic like yellow chicken (aka curry). As you might guess, the best sellers are hamburger, fries and pizza. With his experience, he can easily adapt to any situation or crisis to ensure that our students are happy and well-fed. Over the past two years, he has hands down developed one of the healthiest and tastiest lunch programs in the land. We feel fortunate to have him at AAI!”

Nominee:

Dawndrea Daly

“I believe that this year has been a trying year for my department, in November my distributor went on strike and I had to scramble to get food for our students and then when this pandemic hit, I didn’t stay home,I came to the school and solely prepared meals to be handed out to the students. After they started distance learning, my staff was reassigned so they could get their hours and I continued and still do, to prepare and distribute meals to not only our students but children 18 and under.If there is a grant I try and apply for it to bring in different things for our students so they can experience different things, over the years I have brought in a new salad bar, a geodome, breakfast cart, as well as a flour company to teach them to bake bread, I figure the only thing they can tell me is no but if they don’t , oh man the experience I could be providing our students could stick with them a lifetime!”

“When we shut down for Coronavirus, my staff was reassigned and I continued to feed and did 12,000 plus meals basically alone from March to Labor Day for our small rural Wyoming community children. Not for acolytes or recognitions but because it was needed, a major employer had shutdown at this time also, so our families definitely needed help!”

“She goes above and beyond for our kids. She’s always doing everything she can to bring new programs and grants to help our children and make sure they are not going hungry. She’s our superhero and doesn’t get the recognition she deserves.”

Nominee:

Debbie Yoder

“Debbie always goes above and beyond to make sure that the students here at Cardinal are taken care of. If she notices a student who is not coming through the breakfast or lunch lines she can not help but to wonder why. She will ask them if everything is OK, if the food has been good, if there are problems at home or anything she can help with. Even when school had to close their buildings due to COVID 19 here at Cardinal we were still feeding students and could not have done it without Debbie Yoder. While some employees opted to stay home home with their families because of health concerns Debbie stepped up. She had no problem working over to help out her fellow employees or the Food Service Director. She stated “We have to care. The student still deserve to be feed and get good tasting food that looks good too.” he was determined to make sure the students had the best we could offer by helping come up with menu and presentation ideas. I know I am extremely happy to have her on my team.

Nominee:

Debra Morris

“For never having done anything like this her and her staff have come along way and I have been doing wonderful average of 350 students breakfast and lunch a day seven days a week. And right now in this pandemic that‚ thats saying a lot for the employees of Union school District. They’ve been there every day to make sure the students are fed.”

Nominee:

Debra Wilson

“Debra has a remarkable program. She helps run everything smoothly and gets to know the kids really well. Additionally, she helps reinforce good behaviors and discipline bad behavior.”

Nominee:

Debra Wilson

“Debra Wilson, our Cafeteria Manager, is simple amazing. Our students and staff WANT to eat school food here. Her and her staff are truly a reason our kids love our campus. The other day she did a math lesson with a student while they were getting food through her line. She and her staff are ONE in a MILLION.”

Nominee:

Dianne Gunderson

“Dianne is a dedicated Cafe Manager. She worked every day during emergency feeding to help our open site run smoothly and efficiently. Dianne’s SSO program knowledge and management skills were paramount during COVID.”

Nominee:

Elisa Garcia

“Elisa went from managing a kitchen of 10 employees and 7 site kitchens to managing a staff of 20 employees. Some of these employees have never worked in a kitchen environment before. There was a large learning curve for these employees and she had to speed train them along with dealing with the changes for serving during the shelter in place. She did an amazing job at keeping her staff efficient while being sensitive to employees emotions during this time. Our production jumped from 20k meals per week to over 30k. There was a tremendous increase in workload along with the fears of serving the public while most employees within the Distict were sheltering in place. Elisa was essential at making this possible and our program would not be thriving without her positivity and dedication.”

Nominee:

Fausat Rahman-Davies

“Made impact and/or did remarable in the program – Fausat has made a huge impact on the Rialto Community as she calls it her village. She has made it her mission to Cure Hunger deficiencies not only in the kiddos of RUSD but the entire City of RIalto. Prior to the pandemic she emplimented two Breakfast in the classroom programs at two out of the four highschools in our district. We are second in the state to have made this happen at a high school level. We have 8 schools in the elementary BIC program and two high schools. Under her leadership we have become a district 100% CEP. Her goal is to have all sites offering BIC”

Nominee:

Gloria Dennison

“I arrived at my new job on February 20th, started to meet my staff of 18 and visit my 6 schools, then Corvid-19 hit. My 2 kitchen managers and my assistant kitchen manager weren’t working. We had commodities to use up so we cooked hot meals, when I asked Gloria, “Can we do this?” She would reply “Let’s Try it”! The best attitude and always to try anything what a breath of fresh air, Gloria made the hard work fun! Gloria was my Rock Star! We couldn’t have feed all of our students without her stepping up to make it happen!”

Nominee:

Grace Liss

“She is our unsung hero. She works behind the scenes. She has creative ideas and comes up with the implementation plan. These ideas have helped not only with the bottom line but also, have reached more students to have nutritious meals. Student first”

Nominee:

Jamie Roepe

“Jamie has worked tirelessly to be sure all of our students are fed throughout the district. In addition to her regular “cooks” schedule, she has taken on the delivery management portion, coordinating with the bus drivers to deliver meals to our students who are not able to pick up their meals. She coordinates with other cooks in the district to divide up the work. She always has a positive attitude, even when issues arise.”

Nominee:

Janis Gee

“She is always encouraging and works hard. She is one of our subs, in her mid 70s, and is willing to do whatever is needed.”

Nominee:

Jannette Harris

“Jannette is instrumental in the success of our meal program on a daily basis; even more so with everything we’re dealing with due to COVID.”

Nominee:

Jazmin Hunter

“Jazmin Hunter, Scholarship Prep’s amazing lunch supervisor, and her team distributed over 20,140 breakfast and lunches during the COVID-19 school closures. Yes, that’s not a typo– TWENTY THOUSAND! I believe the sheer volume of “grab and go’s” speaks to her time and dedication to our Scholars, families, and the greater Oceanside community. We are so proud of her hard work!”

Nominee:

Jeanne Krill

“At the end of the school year, the PTA at Woodbridge High School was distributing yard signs with a note from a staff member affixed to the back of the sign to all graduating seniors. Each staff member at the school had been asked to write 2 – 3 personal letters to students wishing them well. In 4 days, Jeanne Krill, the WHS cafeteria supervisor hand-crafted 580 notes for each and every member of the graduating class to make sure they all knew that they were appreciated. She wrote “Dear Seniors, It was nice serving you from 9th thru 12th grade. Graduating in 2020 for sure is a year you’ll never forget. Good Luck with your future. From, Your Lunch Staff.” It’s so important to her that students feel important and that people feel special, she crafted notes for each and every senior at her school.”

Nominee:

Joe Harris

“Makes lunch and breakfast enjoyable for students!”

Nominee:

Judy Cameron

“This associate never blinked an eye when it cam to volunteering for the emergency feeding, but there was much more. She stepped into a manager role and had to learn inventory and our computer reporting software while on the go. She was instantly in charge of 5 other employees and 15 other school staff. As we moved through the summer she had to be flexible and innovative enough to feed more meals to a school that was closed and being supported form volunteer staff. She has never said no to any request and has been a beacon of light and inspiration through all of this when she could have gone on unemployment like the rest. she refused.”

Nominee:

Julieann Garcia

“No one person does it on their own. But with amazing team work we Rock! I strive each and everyday to make a difference in the life’s of our students. I manage my crew the way possible each and everyday because we are family! Through a pandemic we have not only served our families but also our communities. We packed hundreds of lunches, we packed our school buses and helped to make lives a little better. We worked through the summer and right into the next school year not knowing what was going to happen. I know our teachers are heroes, but I also know that all our Lunch Ladies deserve kudos for what we have done together.”

Nominee:

Katie Price

“Katie is a campus Para-professional that helps with the students in the cafeteria for breakfast and lunch everyday.”

Nominee:

Kim Hartnett

“Kim Hartnett takes on any challenge with a smile. She not only serves the students in her two schools (Dover Air Base Middle and Welch Elementary) but also leads a team of wonderful people that work tirelessly to build nearly 300 boxes twice a week for meal distribution to our remote learners. Kim decorates her kitchen and the meal pick-up location for the holidays and special events like “World Milk Day.” She organizes contests and promotions to keep the students engaged. Kim Harnett deserves to be in the “Hall of Fame” because she gives 100% percent at everything she does.”

Nominee:

Kimberly Newborn

“If I could bottle up Kimi’s positive attitude, I would be a millionaire! No matter the issue thrown at her, she puts her mind to the task and gets the job done. She is one of two of my managers who dedicated their time both during the COVID-19 school closures as well as the entire summer months to manage the north county mobile feeding and community partner sites. Her school was selected for the past two administrative reviews, and instead of complaining, she literally rolled out a red carpet for the auditors as they entered the cafeteria. She has served on the menu committee, is one of the key players in training newly hired “managers in training” and as served as a mentor during our “manager in training” boot camp. What else can I say, but KIMI IS A ROCK STAR!!!!!”

Nominee:

Leanne Cullen

“Leanne is instrumental in the success of our meal program on a daily basis; even more so with everything we’re dealing with due to COVID.”

Nominee:

Lisa Wilson

“I am very happy, I am a very hard worker, Food Service Worker, and Cashier. I had a fantastic time last year and enjoyed being with fantastic team members. I nominate myself 8 times for every day I am here.”

Nominee:

Lori Kurr

“I arrived at my new job February 20th, spent some time getting to know my new staff of 18 people and visited the 6 schools. When Covid-19 hit, Both of my kitchen managers and my assistant manager were not available to work. I dint know my employees very well but I could see that Lori Kurr was a rock star! I set up the kitchen to produce bagged breakfast, Lunch and a snack to our 1600 students through pickup sites and delivery vans. Lori was willing to work come in early and do whatever needed to happen to feed our children Within a few weeks Lori was running the production and coordinating the delivery and site meals. We never could have fed our students if it wouldn’t have been for Lori’s great attitude and hard work. Lori makes it fun and goes the extra mile every day!”

Nominee:

Maelie Sullivan

“Maelie is a Para-professional who helps with students in the cafeteria at breakfast and lunch everyday.”

Nominee:

Maria Hernandez

“During our emergency feeding Maria came up with new and creative meals to serve our students.”

Nominee:

Michelle McSpadden

“Michelle (Mikki) is the Manager of our high school kitchen. She works tirelessly to make school meals the best they can be for students and staff. She strives to provide a fun, energetic, and welcoming atmosphere for all who enter our doors. Mikki’s leadership has made a great impact upon the experience that students’ and staff have while interacting with the Food and Nutrition Department. Mikki helps students and staff to feel that they have a voice and that the information they share is important and can lead to results such as new menu items or ways of completing a task. Mikki has created an environment filled with smiles, laughter, and full tummies.”

Nominee:

Mindi Smith

“This person always goes above and beyond in everything she does. She always treats everyone like family and is always there for our kitchen. Just an all around rockstar, especially during this pandemic, she has went above and beyond while working from home and seeing that we got to feed the kids in our community fast!”

Nominee:

Monica Wallis

“When we had to close due to the pandemic Monica jumped into action and had some out of the box thinking when it came to drive-up service. She ran our summer meal program and used that time to feed large amounts of our community children. She was instrumental to the success of our summer program this year!!”

Nominee:

Nicole Meschi

“Nicole goes above and beyond in everything she does. She is always willing to lend hand, support any district in advice or training and participates in every aspect of the State and local chapter of CSNA. Even when Nicole simply volunteers for a call with local colleagues, she creates an organized effective call that educates and benefits everyone. Nicole works tirelessly to ensure that her students, district and everyone she works with is inspired and successful. Her friendly, calm demeanor creates a collaborative and trusting environment that creates lasting relationships.”

Nominee:

Nicole Rasmussen

“Has went above and beyond to make sure that the kids in St. Marys City Schools are being provided breakfast and lunches during the pandemic.”

Nominee:

Patricia Perez

“Patricia has no problem enforcing all rules and regulations and never jeopardizes quality of food. She makes sure our students receive the best food and Customer Service. Additionally, she’ll point out if she has any ideas on improving recipes or saving food cost. She’s amazing!”

Nominee:

Peggy Hamby

“Mrs. Hamby added a mobile diner, Gus the Bus, to our school Food & Nutrition program.”

Nominee:

Richard Wagoner

“Richard goes above and beyond for the students plays music for both lunch and breakfast and comes up with jokes and riddles for them he is well loved my staff and kids”

Nominee:

River Road Middle School Cafeteria ladies

“The staff at River Road Middle School is amazing. They take care of the students and staff! They make a difference in the school.”

Nominee:

Sandi Ellis

“Sandi is instrumental in the success of our meal program on a daily basis; even more so with everything we’re dealing with due to COVID.”

Nominee:

Sandie Oerly

“School Board member Sandie Oerly has been available to serve curbside meals during COVID any time we need her, regardless of whether it is 100 degrees or pouring rain. She treats staff at all levels with respect, and can be trusted to always promote what is best for students and families. Her presence on the line boosts morale and keeps our spirits soaring, and we deeply appreciate her support of Child Nutrition and most of all our families during these trying times. Please consider our nomination of Sandie Oerly as a Lunchroom Rockstar!”

Nominee:

Sandra Calhoun

“Sandra hasn’t missed a day of feeding our students since we closed in March. The kids get excited to see her when they come up to get meals. She knows almost all 1000 students by name. Her passion for her kids is over the top.”

Nominee:

Sonja Anthony

“Sonja goes above and beyond to make sure her staff and the students in her district are afford all opportunities available. When a dinner program was available she ask for volunteers to pilot the program and when it was a hit she offered it at other schools. She also did this with summer feeding, snack program and fresh fruit and vegetables program. She goes above and beyond offering continued education to her staff to keep them operating at the high standards this field requires. She makes sure they all knew how important they are and that they all make a difference.”

Nominee:

Stephen Bailey

“Mr. Bailey is our every-day primary lunch monitor! His main role on campus is as the ISS monitor, however, by being the lead lunch monitor, he is able to formulate relationships with students in a different setting! Many days, as cool or windy as it may be, it does not stop Mr. Bailey from taking the students out for some much needed fresh air and recess time! The students really appreciate the sacrifices he makes in doing this. He is also in charge of leading the “birthday song” any time there is a birthday on campus and it is celebrated in the lunchroom. Mr. Bailey is fair, responsible, committed, consistent, loving, and respectable. He is an incredible role model, not only to the young men on our campus, but to adults and students on campus! RRMS wouldn’t be the same without Mr. Bailey!”

Nominee:

Tabitha Ashley

“Tabitha is always around, helping kids, ensuring the nutrition value is in place for each meal.. ensuring no kid is left hungry during mealtimes.”

Nominee:

Tiffany Curran

“Tiffany works in another county than I do. She is a Child Nutrition Director. I am a Cafeteria Manager. She recently has made a great impact on me and I am for sure her cooks through this pandemic. She called me on her way home from work and said, I have always had respect for you cooks, however I have the utmost respect for you all now. How you all do the jobs you do day in and out is beyond me. I am tired, drained and I hurt. On a normal day, you will find her with high-heels on, dress clothes and her long blonde hair flowing naturally. Now, she is trading in her high heels for converse, and her hair is pinned up in a hair net. She works with her cooks to get meals ready to go out on the buses to be served to the students. She has ridden busses handing out meals as well. I am sure there are many directors out there like her however, when she told me what she did, working hand-in-hand with her cooks, it made me gain even more respect for her.”

Nominee:

Tiffany Dosher

“Always wearing a smile always kind and never minds fixing our mistakes in head count. Besides the fact that her and the rest of the team make delicious meals.”

Nominee:

Tim Kenaley

“When the pandemic hit and our school went to remote learning we immediately had to figure out a way to feed our kids. We started offering both breakfast and lunch, delivered by school bus. Tim, our high school manager, went from managing 4 staff to all district lunch staff, bus drivers and para-professionals that were asked to help pack bags. Although it was a huge team effort to send out 2,200 meals on Mondays and Wednesdays, and 1,100 on Fridays, Tim developed a system that worked like a well oiled machine. He continues to prepare summer meals with one other employee and distribute curbside until mid August. Then we start with a new hybrid system. Cheers to a great manager who doesn’t freak out when things change course, but finds a way to make it happen.”

Nominee:

Willow Vista ECA

“Willow Vista ECA has the world’s best cafeteria ladies! The cafeteria manager, Clarissa Burunda, is so easy to work with. She is flexible and always positive! Clarissa really cares about our students enjoying their meals and making things special for our staff and students. Tiffany and Eva also greet our students and our teachers with so much love and kindness everyday! We love their smiles and how much they love serving our little community. They make our campus a very special place to work, we are truly blessed to have them on our campus.”