OPERATIONS
Students at Dove Elementary School enjoyed What-A-Lotta Meatballs for lunch after reading Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.
#MathematicsMonday posts that per- haps best exemplify Grapevine-Col- leyville ISD’s foodservice. For example, as part of a March Lit- erary Lunch, nutrition team members read "Cloudy With a Chance of Meat- balls" to the district’s Dove Elementa- ry School students, who then enjoyed What-A-Lotta Meatballs for lunch. The older kids over at Grapevine Middle tried their hand at math problems printed on cookie packaging, with Chef Jason Aronen walking around to discuss. “We have to get that face time and build trust if we want to make connec- tions with students,” Telesca explains. “We want to teach them that nutrition is important for learning in school, but also for the rest of their lives. So, we really have to show them that we care, and that what we do has an impact on their day.” ‘WHAT WE DO HAS AN IMPACT’ That impact is always top-of-mind for the team, as the district of 13,500-plus students includes some economically disadvantaged areas. The foodservice team serves 18 schools, and all 16 of the pre-K-to-eighth-grade locations qual- ify for free meals under the National School Lunch Program. “I stress to our people all the time:
“
We want to teach them that nutrition is important for learning in school, but also for the rest of their lives. So, we really have to show them that we care, and that what we do has an impact on their day.”
- Chef Jason Aronen
This lunch might be the only hot meal that child gets that day,” says Chef Ja- son Aronen. “So we have to make sure it’s good: that it tastes good, it looks good, it’s prepared well.” Those are the mantras that Aron- en relies on in his capacity as culinary trainer, particularly when educating new team members with little-to-no experience. Pre-COVID, Telesca es- timates, about 70% of the team held five-plus years of service; today, 70% has less than a year. “That’s why training is essential, and it doesn’t stop just because we’re in the middle of a four-week menu cy-
cle,” Aronen says. “We’re finding more and more of the workforce doesn’t even cook in their daily lives, so sometimes, training means showing them how to use an oven step-by-step.” This trend has inspired necessary changes to the menu, he adds, with a focus on “quick scratch” items, simpler cooking or assembly-centric prepara- tion suitable for less-experienced culi- nary workers: barbecue cheeseburgers, the Texas-favorite Frito pie, chicken fa- jitas, and lasagnas. “We do knife skills and culinary lessons, but the biggest thing we push is a sense of pride in our employees,”
CONTINUE READING ON PAGE 36
Q2 2024
FSD QUARTERLY
35
Powered by FlippingBook