Fueling the Next Generation

This episode of Parenting Future Focused Kids features Kristin Soulsby,  Director of Food and Nutrition Services at the Madison School District.  The podcast episode will cover how Madison is fueling the next generation of students and ways nutrition can set up your student for success! 

Madison School District Food Services social media accounts: 
Facebook: @MadisonAZFoodServices 
Instagram: @madisonaz_fs
Twitter: @MadisonAZ_FS 

Transcript

Nicole Rodriguez: Welcome to Parenting Future-focused Kids. During the month of March, we celebrate National School Breakfast Week. Today, we will take a look at how we are fueling the next generation of students, and ways nutrition can set your student up for success. Calling into our podcast today is Kristen Soulsby, Madison's director of Food and nutrition services. Welcome to the podcast, Kristen. Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you became so passionate about nutrition and helping our students succeed.

Kristin Soulsby: Thank you, Nicole. While attending college, I started volunteering with the Food Service Department with the Paradise Valley School District. I really enjoy trying to influence the eating habits of young children and saw firsthand the benefits that school meals had on preparing students for learning, especially those who did not have access to nutritious meals at home. I also experienced that food service directors needed to be responsible for their own budgets and needed to be educated in business practices such as budgeting. I received my bachelor's degree in dietetics and I went on to receive a master's degree in business administration. I am a registered dietitian and I hold a school nutrition specialist credential. I worked in the Paradise Valley School District as a nutrition coordinator for seven years, and then I have been director at Madison for 21 years. I'm happy to be here with you today.

NR: Well, thank you so much. We're excited to talk about not only National School Breakfast Week, but just how breakfast in general is really important for our student success. And if we jump right into it, why are school meals such an important part of student success?

KS: Well, school meals are critical to students health and well-being, especially for low income students. They ensure that students have the nutrition they need throughout the day to learn. Research shows that receiving free or reduced price lunches reduce food insecurity, obesity rates and poor health. In addition, the school meal pattern and the nutrition standards have a positive impact on students food selection and consumption, especially for fruits and vegetables.

NR: So many people may not know that there is a free and reduced meal application, and they might not know the benefits of filling that out, maybe even if they don't feel like they qualify for free and reduced meals. So how does filling out that application help support school meals and our students and families?

KS: Well, we know school meals are important to both students mental and physical well-being. Completing a free and reduced meal application ensures that students can receive the important nutrition that they need at both breakfast and lunch. The application process is simple. It's one form for all the students in the family and can be done online at our district website. Once qualified, the student is approved for the entire school year, as well as the first 30 days of the next school year. The application is confidential and the free and reduced price students receive the same meal as the paid student, so there's no identification for who is on the program and who is not. Even though these meals are currently free for all students due to the pandemic, it is still important for families to complete these applications now for this school year. This will ensure that students are set up to continue receiving free or reduced price meals for the first 30 days of next school year, should the free meals not be extended beyond June 30th of 2022. A new year application would also need to be completed after the first 30 days of the school year. Applications have to be completed each year. There is no rollover process beyond the first 30 days of each school year.

NR: That's really important to note that they have to be completed each school year, and it's not something that a parent can just fill out one time and forget about. It's something that we continually have to update. But why is it important that all families complete the free and reduced meal application regardless of income status?

KS: Well, even though the meals are free for all students, it is still very important for families to complete these applications. The total approved applications determines funding for a variety of other initiatives. The PEBT program, testing, athletics, school programs, and school meals that ensures that all students need access to these important programs receive their intended benefits.

NR: Absolutely. And I was just thinking about, you know, you talked about the ongoing pandemic and how meals have been free for quite some time now and how food service has really played an important and integral role in supporting our students' success during the pandemic, during school closures. So over the last two years, how did food service play a part in supporting our student success even while we were at home?

KS: Well, even though the schools were closed and operated virtually, school cafeterias did not shut down during that time. We offered free meals to the entire community, as well as those attending on campus programs. We referred to our cafeteria employees as super heroes. Our school lunch heroes continued to serve in a variety of ways. This included a seven day bulk bag food program, three to five day meal bundles, curbside drive thru service in the summer heat and the winter cold. All while navigating continued staffing and food and paper shortages. During the school closures, our department served over 30,000 breakfasts, lunches, snacks and dinners to our community.

NR: Wow, that's amazing. I know that your department has helped so many students succeed throughout this challenging time, and you all are truly lunch heroes and we wouldn't have been able to, you know, go through these challenging times without that support. And speaking of support, I know that we offer a lot of food programs here at Madison to support our community and those in need. And what types can you walk us through those types of food programs available for our Madison students, as well as all of our community members?

KS: Sure. first of all, we want to ensure that everyone listening knows that all meals are truly free to all children 18 years and younger in our community. I think that sometimes this is a fact that's hard to believe, but it really is true. So regardless of your eligibility, regardless of your financial status, regardless of filling out any forms, the meals are there for you. There are two options for free meals for our Madison Virtual Academy students, students who may be at home and quarantining or any child in the community 18 years or younger, you do not have to be enrolled in Madison for any of our programs. The first is our free bulk bag program. So what this is, it's held at Madison Number one Middle School, and it's open every Wednesday from 4:10 to 5:30. And it's a drive thru pickup service. This bulk bag program will continue as long as we have consistent people coming to do it. The bands include five days worth of breakfast, lunch, snacks and suppers per child. It does require a pre-order and this can be found on our website as well as our social media channels.

NR: Well, that's a wonderful opportunity for our families, you know, pre-order and pick up bulk bags of food on Wednesdays, you said at Madison Number one Middle School from 4:10 to 5:30 and links to your social media accounts that you mentioned will be included in the podcast description for anyone who's interested in giving our food service page a follow. So what about if a family or child would like to visit a school Monday through Friday?

KS: Yes. Again, any of our virtual academy students or students who may be quarantined or again, any child in the community 18 years or younger does not have to be enrolled in one of our schools or programs. Is able to visit any school cafeteria during their breakfast and lunch serving times. They will need to contact either the school or the Food Service District Office to find out the times and procedures for that particular school.

NR: Do students have to be accompanied by an adult in order to to take advantage of this?

KS: Actually, the student does not have to be present, the parent, or the Guardian can pick up the meals for the child, particularly if their home on quarantine. But yes, they would need to be accompanied by an adult.

NR: OK, I think that's an important thing to note, but it's also great that you know someone from the family, a parent, a family member, can come pick up those meals if students are at home. So that's great for students during the school day in the school year. But I also know that we continue. We're offering free meals, especially over the summer. You know, we're getting close. We're not quite there yet. But what can you tell our listeners about the free summer meal program?

KS: So there's the free summer meal program is something that we have every year, so it's not specific to the pandemic. So again, you'll find this happening in our district every summer. We typically hold this at two sites and usually that's Camelview or Park, unless there's something going on at those schools that prevents us from having it. But then we would probably have it at another site. The meals again are free for any child in the community 18 years and younger. You do not have to be enrolled in any school or program going on during the summer. There are no income requirements or forms to be filled out. So this is this is like a separate program from the school meals program. So it's almost it's almost like what we've had going on during the pandemic. But it goes on every summer and it goes on in almost every school district across the state. And we know that summer meals are important to our community because we know that children who miss school breakfast and lunch are more likely to be ill or absent or tardy, disruptive, and inattentive. They also are shown to score lower on achievement tests. Good nutrition is essential for their learning, and summer meals provide an opportunity to continue the child's physical and social development while providing nutritious meals during long vacation periods and ensures that they'll be ready to return to school and ready to learn.

NR: Ready to start the next school year strong. And I know that we've been, you know, providing our community with increased access to healthy fruits and vegetables. This is something really exciting. So can you tell us a little bit about the produce program at Camelview?

KS: Yes. So we began a new, unique produce program at Camelview this year. And this was an initiative that came out of our Madison District Wellness Committee, which does allow parents to attend those meetings, and that information is on the district website. The committee set a goal this year to increase opportunities for families to have access to healthy food. So our food service department has partnered with Activate Food Arizona Farm Express Mobile Market Program, and their mission is to create an equitable system that provides all communities with better access to healthy, affordable food. This mobile produce bus has many different fruits and vegetables that vary week to week. These are sold at affordable prices, and payments can be made in cash, credit, debit card, snap or. PEBT. And you just pick up a shopping bag and you go shopping on the bus, and it's really fun. This is open to Madison families, as well as any members of the community. And again, you can get more information about this on our social media accounts, or you can log on to ActivateFoodArizona.org to view the updates regarding the schedules. But basically, this happens at Madison Camelview, and it is every other Monday from 2:30 to 3:30 in the front parking lot.

NR: Well, that sounds like another wonderful opportunity for our families and for our community. So aside from our free meal programs, what other programs can students participate in Madison students to get them excited about nutrition?

KS: Yeah, so we have a couple of different ways that we've tried to engage students and get them excited about culinary arts and nutrition. And one of those is our culinary club at Madison Park. Madison Park students have the opportunity to be involved in the culinary club and this has been led by our cafeteria manager Cecilia Ariza, and she partners with Andrea Zickman who is a dietitian from Maricopa County Department of Public Health. During their lessons, the Madison Park students have learned basic kitchen safety, cleaning, knife skills and baking techniques in the Commons kitchen. They've made wonderful, semi-scratch recipes. Some of those included mac and cheese, chicken pot pie, fajitas, and no bake protein balls. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, this program has been put on hold. But will be revisited in March. It's been very well received and we're hoping. It's something that sparks interest in our youngest aspiring chefs and that we'll be able to expand that to other campuses in the future.

NR: Well, that's really exciting. I'm hungry now. You were listing all of those recipes and I'm like, OK, maybe I should stop by! And I know we're really hopeful that we can start that program up again soon. And it's such a great opportunity for our students and something I'm really excited about, in March, we're celebrating National School Breakfast Week, and we know that breakfast is incredibly important for our students, and I would love for you to talk about the benefits of eating a school breakfast.

KS: So studies show that students who eat school breakfast or just breakfast in general, they reach higher levels of achievement in reading and math. They score higher on standardized tests. They have better concentration and memory they're, in general, more alert. And overall, they maintain a healthy weight. So every March, the nation celebrates National School Breakfast Week. This was launched back in 1989, and it's to raise awareness of the availability of school breakfasts to all children. School breakfast again is a very underutilized program. During this week, schools put their breakfast programs on display through exciting contests and promotions. So all of the Madison school cafes are open for approximately 20 to 30 minutes prior to the school day. Parents and guardians can view our serving times at our website on the food and nutrition page, and then I'll share with you just some of our plans for our celebration this year. So at each school we will be randomly selecting a student to win a superhero prize pack, and this is going to include gift card, activity sheets, and other fun superhero themed goodies. Our overall theme this year is "Take Off With School Breakfast" and basically the more times a student eats with us this particular week, the greater chance they have of winning. We'll be featuring some fun things on the menu. One of those will be 100% juice Hula Cooler and also on Friday of that week, we'll be having an Eggo emoji whole grain waffle. So that will be really fun and nutritious.

NR: Well, that sounds really exciting. I love Eggo emojis, like, that just sounds fun to me. And for those listening, that will be for March of 2022 the seventh through the 11th. So I believe that's Friday, the 11th that students will be able to enjoy that and participate and hopefully win a superhero prize. That's exciting. So maybe parents are listening, you know, their child might be at home? Or do you have any tips, maybe on the weekends, right? For parents looking for quick breakfast ideas at home to ensure that their students are getting the nutrition that they need?

KS: Yeah, the best tips I can give is to keep it simple. Plan ahead and make sure to give yourself extra time in the mornings. Some really fun things that you could try would be overnight oats with fruit and nuts, peanut butter, fruit and honey, and a wrapped tortilla. You can also make homemade breakfast burritos ahead of time on the weekends, perhaps. And freeze those, and that can be quickly microwaved in the mornings. And those are also transportable. Homemade oat and blueberry muffins. Homemade healthy granola bars. No bake energy balls, breakfast parfaits are usually very popular with low fat yogurt, fruit and granola. Of course, fruit smoothies there's so many different varieties of those, but you could try berries, bananas, low fat yogurt, milk or add some peanut butter for additional protein, portable pancake bites that can be made with whole grain pancake mix with berries. You can cook those in a muffin tin and then bake those in the oven and those will be portable. And then along the same lines, frittata bites made with turkey, bacon, spinach, diced tomatoes. Those can also be baked in a muffin tin. So those are just a few ideas for things that can be done ahead of time on the weekends. And then taken with you along your route to school.

NR: Well, those are some delicious ideas. I was writing them down as you were listening because I might meal prep some of those myself, and I think you mentioned, too, making things ahead of time. And I think for me, that's very helpful. You know, meal prepping, just making sure that something's available, it's nutritious, ready to go for breakfast in the morning. Now I know some children and some adults are kind of picky. Maybe they don't like breakfast. So how can families integrate healthy, nutritious foods prior to the start of school day, maybe with a picky eater?

KS: Well, breakfast really can be any food. It doesn't have to strictly be eggs and pancakes and cereal. Maybe your child would like something heartier or more savory. How about some leftovers from last night's dinner? You can think of nontraditional breakfast foods, cheese cubes, grapes, whole grain crackers, peanut butter and jelly on wholegrain bread. Hot ham and cheese and turkey sandwich. You know, these items are generally thought of as lunchtime or dinnertime, but they can also be served at breakfast. And another really important thing is you want to make sure that you wake your kids up at least 30 minutes prior to eating breakfast. This will maximize their appetites, allow them time for a relaxed meal. Lets them be alert, and hungry and ready to enjoy their breakfast. We also want to make sure that their environment is stress free. Make sure they get enough sleep. If you're really ambitious, you can get up and take a quick walk around the block. This will stimulate their appetite. You want to make sure you switch off all those distractions: TVs, iPads, and toys. And just try to sit with your kids and enjoy eating breakfast together. Also, tune in to your child's emotional wellness and anxiety will hinder their appetite. Is your child worried about a project? An assignment or a test? So you want to judge you know how they're feeling and make sure you talk supportively to them about how they're feeling. You can, as we discussed earlier, you can make sure your child's breakfast is portable to allow them to eat along your route to school. Meals can be made ahead of time, perhaps on the weekend. Want to just make sure that your kitchen is stocked with breakfast items that are easy, easy to prepare and can be done ahead of time. Perhaps you could create like a family menu boards. And this would help you plan your meals for the entire week. You know, just try to make it a habit to sit as a family and eat breakfast together, if not during the week, at least on the weekends. You do want to model this behavior for your child. And then Pinterest. Pinterest is a great resource that has a lot of free breakfast recipes that are kid friendly.

NR: I love the idea of a family menu board, because I think that gets everyone excited about the meals to come that week and, you know. Create something for children to look forward to if they know that a certain meal is going to be on a certain day, I think that's great. And Pinterest does have a lot of great ideas. I will say. So, looking at our, you know, we talked about the family meal menu board at home. How are the monthly breakfast and lunch calendars created here and how do you plan for a different meal options at school?

KS: So it's a very similar concept as the family menu board, but we basically plan a five week cycle menu and that's composed of a variety of proteins, cuisines and colors. So we want to make it fun and exciting and full of choices for everyone. All the students are offered at least three different entree choices every day, along with a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as whole grains each day. We do a lot of themed promotions to get the kids excited about eating with us. In the past, we have featured seasonal juices, pizzas like Hatch Green Chili Pizza and other unique recipes that celebrate holidays are Giving Thanks turkey meal is a favorite. We also do a lot of nutrition education in our cafeterias with colorful posters, menu boards, and we participate every year in farm to school initiatives in our district. These initiatives are part of the Arizona Department of the Education program, and they focus on teach, taste and connect to Arizona, which includes featuring local ingredients in the cafe, offering enrichment activities and posting about them on social media. Some of the things we've done in the past have been seed planting and activity packets for the students. We have a smoothie bike and we also have visits from Roxy the Cow from Shamrock Farms. And we've created our own little mini farmer's market with a push cart. And allow students to taste test fresh fruits and vegetables.

NR: I love the mini farmers market that sounds so fun. I was just thinking about how we connect our students with local agriculture and and, you know, get them involved in the nutrition and the food that they're eating. And I know that we also give our students a voice in the food options that are available on the menu so can you talk a little bit about that?

KS: Yes, we really want to know how both students and parents feel about our menu options, so we invite parents and students to fill out online menu surveys on our website. These can be found under the menu tab, and we really want them to share with us what they like, what they do not prefer and what they would like to see in the future. They are, of course, always welcome to share that feedback with any of our café team members at any of our campuses, as well as our district office foodservice department. Beyond that, we also encourage our managers to do what we call "try-it" days. And this is where you would feature either a new menu item or possibly new exciting fruits and vegetables, and you just allow the students to try them and give us feedback on those comments. We also regularly focus on developing new recipes and trying those out with the students in our cafes and getting their feedback, hoping to see what can be presented on our menus in the future. Another really fun way we have engaged our students in the past is our annual Top Chef event. All students are invited to submit a recipe that they enjoy at home and would like to see on the school menus. It can be something that they've made in the past or that their parents have made. One student from each campus and their recipe is selected to compete in our Top Chef event. They are invited to work with their school cafeteria manager on how they can adapt that recipe for the entire school. The student, along with our cafe manager, then compete at the Top Chef event. This is a really fun event and it's been attended by their families, as well as celebrity chef judges and hosted by a local news anchor. The guest judges select one winner and crowned them Top Chef. They are all recognized at their school by their principal, teacher, and fellow students and their recipe is featured on their menu on a special day. We have not been able to hold this public event during the pandemic, but we very much look forward to getting back to it in the future.

NR: I know we're really excited to get back to that Top Chef competition and allow our students to create those recipes to be featured on our menus. But I love that we're doing like "Try-it" Days, and I know in our previous podcast we talked with another member of your team from food service, and she discussed how it takes multiple times for someone to try a new fruit, to try a new food, to see if they, you know, want to add that in to their, you know, their their diet. And I think that's wonderful that we are allowing that opportunity for our students to branch out and maybe try something new. So we talked about the important role that food service plays in our students success. How would someone start a career in this field? I know that you are extremely passionate about food service, and so you're the best person to ask this question to.

KS: Yes. Like I said, I started right out of college. And have been doing it for 28 years, so it is a wonderful career. And especially seeing that we are influencing the eating habits of young children that are going to grow into good eating adults in the future. We have so many different options. So if you're a current college student or a parent or a retiree. We have part time positions that range from three to five and three quarter hours per day, let's say you only want to work a few days a week because you go to school. Or you have other things that you do. And we have substitute positions. If you are a high school student looking for an evening and a weekend job. We have concession positions available for our Madison Center for the Arts. If you are working in another area of food service, such as a restaurant, you know, consider never working a weekend or holiday again. That's one big one big perk of working for the school.

NR: Absolutely.

KS: Several of our current foodservice managers started as part time caterers or cashiers with us. They then became a manager in training, which was kind of a unique position that where you train right alongside a food service manager until one day getting a manager and managing a kitchen of your own. We'd love to hire parents. Many parents come looking for a part time position and end up finding a home in a career. I have several managers who, again, started with us as a parent, just as a part time position. And who are who are still here many years later, working as a foodservice manager. Our cashiers work six hours per day and that's considered full time, and it comes with district paid health benefits, and it's a really nice perk.

NR: That is a nice thing.

KS: Yeah, several of our cashiers work six hours for us and then they work two hours for our after school program and therefore they get eight hours a day and 40 hours a week. So that works out nice. Some of our cashiers also work as consessionists in the Madison Center for the Arts, so they're able to pick up extra hours that way. Both our managers in training and our managers work 40 hours a week, so those are our full time positions. We do offer on the job training, ongoing professional development, paid membership to our professional organization, opportunities for advancement and hopefully a long term career with important and purposeful work.

NR: I think those are wonderful opportunities and, you know, especially being able to work six hours a day and, you know, with district paid health insurance, I think that's something unique and like you said, not having to work nights and weekends always nice too. It's always a perk of working for a school district. So if someone is interested in applying and they're inspired by this, what positions are open right now and how do they apply?

KS: So you can find all of our open positions on the district website. You would simply go to the job section and look for current employment opportunities. And from there you will see food service caterer, food service cashier, concessionist, as well as food service caterers substitutes for those people who are either students or wanting to work only a few days a week. We would love to have have you join us.

NR: Yeah, there's a variety of opportunities available. So depending on what you're passionate about in food service, you can find it on our website at Madisonaz.org/jobs. And there will be a list of what we just discussed. And absolutely, we would love to have you come join the Madison team. And I just want to thank you, Kristen, for being on our podcast today. It was wonderful talking with you about the benefits of our school meals and eating a school breakfast, and we're excited to celebrate National School Breakfast Week this month, and we just appreciate your time and being on our podcast today.

KS: Thank you so much. Nicole, it was my pleasure.

NR: Thank you for listening to Parenting Future-Focused Kids. To listen to our latest episodes, visit our website at Madisonaz.org/podcast or search Madison School District on Spotify.