Kicking school year
off the
Aurora Public Schools Kerry Hawley
At Aurora Public School Nutrition Services, we like to start the year off strong! We begin with 2 days of intense training and team building activities. Our first day of training is with our kitchen managers. They shared stories of their summer adventures while everyone arrived. Once we settled in, we introduced our new HR and Payroll system. We learned the “ins and outs” of how to approve the time cards for our kitchen staff.After a short break we were back to learning about our new production tracking software. Our Coordinators met with their team over lunch to discuss other changes we would like to implement with the new school year. The second half of the day was focused on self care. We had small fountains in the room to encourage tranquility. Jeweled Trees, Oil Diffusers and Flameless candles added to the ambiance in the conference
We introduced our district partners and learned about how our jobs all work together for the success of our students. The bulk of the day was training on the new HR systems, Staffing and Recognition, Free & Reduced Meal Applications and Food Quality and a POS refresher!
We enjoyed lunch while building Obs-sicle Houses. We wrote on popsicle sticks obstacles we face in our kitchens. We used them to build houses to display in our kitchens. There were pompoms and pipe cleaners, stickers and markers to decorate them with. After lunch we played Giants, Wizards and Elves and learned about our “Superpower” and how to be Inimitable from author Kate Leavell! Each staff member took home her book and our summer staff received a t-shirt with Superpower kitchen workers on them!
room while soft music played in the background. The team from The Centering Cooperative led us through questions of reflection. After we chose our words to focus on, we enjoyed some arts and crafts by painting a wooden plaque.
On day two, we welcomed all of APS Nutrition Staff! The Conference center was filled with chatter and laughter while our teams welcomed each other back and said hello to friends from other schools. The A-Team, what we call our Central Office Support Staff, Kicked off the morning with a team dance to “Can’t Stop the Feeling.”
All in all, our teams left with a LOT of knowledge and had a great time learning about it!
Kerry Hawley is in her 8th year with Aurora Public Schools Nutrition Services. She has been the Staffing, Marketing and Recognition Specialist for the past 4 years. She loves meeting new people and finding the right fit for them within the department. Kerry Hawley Aurora Public Schools (CO)
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