Supporting Your Team As You Enter The Home Stretch Continued from page 24
Strategic Food Placement: A Key to Healthier School Meals Continued from page 26
• School newsletter spotlight • Employee of the month parking spot • Professional development course • Employee anniversary recognition • Team lunch or outing • Wall of Fame- display name/photo • Event tickets (movies, concerts, sports) • Gift cards for coffee or lunch • Recognition certificates: Team Leader, Problem Solver, Innovator, etc. Employee Recognition Ideas feel valued, they build stronger rapport with the school community and maintain higher performance—both immediately and in the future. An informal setting where employees are free to relax and socialize with one another can greatly improve morale. Student participation in celebrations creates meaningful impact. Whether serv- ing meals, writing thank-you notes, or decorating, their involvement demonstrates schoolwide appreciation for the nutrition team while fostering unity. Support Beyond Appreciation Nutrition staff face heightened pressure during end-of-year events and summer meal planning. Offering volunteer assis- tance, rather than just verbal support, demonstrates genuine care from the school. As the year concludes, acknowledging the vital contributions of school nutrition staff through gratitude and practical help ener- gizes them for the final stretch. When staff
more energy to get to them. It also helps to make some things less visible. Schools that replaced glassed doors with solid ones on ice cream freezers saw a 16 percent reduction in the number of people choos- ing ice cream. 2. To discourage unhealthy impulse “buying” near cash registers or distribution lines, replace unhealthy items with attrac- tive displays of fruits or healthy foods, entic- ing students to pick them up instead. Place preferred products up front where it’s easier for kids to reach them. 3. To increase the odds that kids will eat their fruit and vegetables, offer a choice from a finite list. Ask them, “Would you like celery or carrots with your lunch?” Research- ers have found that, just by suggesting students take a fruit, the number of them eating it increased by 70 percent. 4. If you have a salad bar, move it to the middle of the lunch room where students can’t help but see it . Make it part of the natural traffic pattern. Introducing a salad bar increased school lunch participation by 21 percent in a high school of 1,000 students. Improved visibility for good foods, reduced exposure to bad foods, attractive lighting, and professional presentation are just some ways to stimulate healthier food choices in your schools. It has worked for commercial marketers, so why not for you?
Dee Carroll, a former Foodservice Director at South Fayette Township Schools in Pennsylvania, later man- aged the California School Foodservice Assoc. She and her husband, Tim, founded Carroll Services in 1993, to provide resources and support to school foodservice professionals nationwide.
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