Oakland Schools: OUSD Celebrates National School Lunch Week, Welcomes Stephanie Bruce, New Head of Nutrition Services

OUSD Celebrates National School Lunch Week and Welcomes New Head of Nutrition Services
Oakland – This week, conscionable similar schoolhouse districts crossed the country, OUSD is celebrating National School Lunch Week. At Hoover Elementary School, a caller lunchtime had students selecting from a paper that included hamburgers, corndogs, tater tots, caller vegetables and fruit, and milk. “It’s truthful good, it tastes yummy successful my tummy,” exclaimed kindergartener, Maliyaa who had chosen a hamburger and an apple.

Receiving manus sanitizer upon entering the cafeteria, choosing the day’s meal, and unit cleaning the tables earlier the adjacent radical of students arrives.

Maliyaa was among a radical of kindergarteners who got to devour archetypal connected this day, aft which the nutrition services unit cleaned the tables earlier the adjacent radical came into the cafeteria. Each pupil who walked successful besides got manus sanitizer. “Right now, particularly with the pandemic, a batch of parents mislaid their jobs, truthful they bash trust connected what their kids devour here,” said nutrition services assistant, Diana Manjarrez. “There’s kids who inquire for 2nd oregon 3rd rounds. And if we don’t person enough, we person to accidental we can’t, due to the fact that past we would permission a kid without a lunch. It makes my bosom truly sad.”

The National School Lunch Program was created by President John F. Kennedy successful 1962 to beforehand the value of a steadfast luncheon for students. It serves 30 cardinal children successful the United States each day. Here successful OUSD, much than 70% of our students suffice for escaped and reduced priced lunches, truthful determination is large request to guarantee that our students person steadfast meals to powerfulness them done their days successful school. “This twelvemonth especially, the lunches person been truly good. The effect and everything that’s been sent has been caller and delicious,” said Hoover Principal Lissette Averhoff. “It’s conscionable breathtaking to spot the kids enjoying their nutrient and their clip together. We cognize we’ve been retired of schoolhouse truthful long, it’s bully to person everybody unneurotic and blessed and eating, and knowing that they’re being taken attraction of.”

Principal Averhoff says making definite students person eaten nutritious nutrient gets them acceptable to larn erstwhile they are successful class, due to the fact that an bare tummy tin origin problems. “That’s erstwhile each the behaviors happen, particularly similar now, we person kindergarteners present and they’ll beryllium crying each afternoon, they’re sleepy, they’ll privation to instrumentality naps, won’t person energy, a batch much fights happen, and kids are conscionable cranky. And erstwhile they spell backmost (having eaten), they’re capable to focus, get their enactment done, get on with their peers, and marque amended decisions.”

California present has a instrumentality connected the books that provides escaped schoolhouse lunches to immoderate pupil who wants 1 careless of quality to pay. It doesn’t instrumentality effect until adjacent year, but due to the fact that of national waivers, the interaction this twelvemonth is the same. For students, it removes the stigma that tin beryllium attached to receiving escaped oregon reduced terms schoolhouse meals due to the fact that everyone gets to devour for free. The quality to person escaped meals has caused a melodramatic emergence successful request among students astatine galore schools crossed the District. So, present is simply a bully clip for pupil leaders who enactment to springiness feedback to Nutrition Services to reappraisal the food, conscionable similar a Hoover 5th grader named Ash did. “The nutrient now, it’s benignant of good. But I urge the chickenhearted to beryllium much seasoned.”

“School meals are captious for our community, and ne'er much truthful than implicit the past twelvemonth and a fractional erstwhile our Nutrition Services squad helped get thousands of our students and their families done the pandemic and nonaccomplishment of resources that truthful galore radical experienced,” said Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell. “For students successful the classroom, the probe is clear. The learning process is importantly hampered if young radical haven’t had capable to eat. That’s wherefore the enactment of our squad astatine the Central Kitchen and astatine our schoolhouse sites is truthful important, and wherefore we convey the authorities of California for taking the important measurement of ensuring lunches are disposable to each students escaped of charge.”

National School Lunch Week is besides the cleanable clip to present the idiosyncratic who volition beryllium starring our Nutrition Services squad into the future, the caller Senior Executive Director for Nutrition Services, Stephanie Bruce (pictured). Ms. Bruce is simply a Bay Area native, and comes to OUSD from Palm Springs wherever she led that schoolhouse district’s cardinal room for the past 8 years. She is simply a erstwhile cook and served arsenic nutrient work manager astatine Universal Studios earlier transitioning to schoolhouse territory nutrition services successful 2002.

Ms. Bruce is 1 of the starring experts connected Child Nutrition successful California and was a captious dependable successful advocating astatine the authorities level for escaped schoolhouse meals for each students. Here are a recent Edsource article and an Edsource podcast that item her enactment successful Southern California. Just 2 weeks ago, she became the inaugural recipient of the California Food for California Kids School Food Policy Advocacy Award from the Center for Ecoliteracy. With 20+ years of acquisition starring cardinal kitchens and transforming nutrition programs, Ms. Bruce is already bringing her vigor and skills to improving nutrient prime and eating experiences for each OUSD students. Welcome to OUSD, Ms. Bruce and Happy National School Lunch Week!

Post based connected property merchandise from Oakland Unified School District to ZENNIE62MEDIA, INC.