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“I do it all,” says Rose Ledden, head cook at Stoddard
Elementary School. Ledden (left) and cook's helper Deb Zink serve
up nutritious meals.
By Joanne M. Haas
Rose Marie Ledden’s food critics reward her daily with hugs,
smiles and laughter. “They’re like Velcro on your legs,” laughs
head site cook Ledden as she talks of the Stoddard Elementary
School students who savor the nutritious home-baked meals she
has been creating for the last 26 years at De Soto Area School
District in Vernon County. Sue Smits sounds like Ledden when it comes to the students served
by the two kitchens she staffs for the Unified School District
of De Pere in Brown County. “I’m the friendly face to the kids. That’s
the part I like,” said Smits, who sought training and earned
certification to join the district’s food service division
six years ago after spending 14 years with the custodial department.
“The kids are a joy to work with.” Twenty-three years ago, Kay Hansen initiated her relationship
with the Denmark School District as a volunteer in the library.
That led to a 45-minute-per-week job selling lunch tickets. She
was so good at the Friday morning slot and her library support
that the Brown County district offered the young mother paying
positions a few years later. Today she is the tech-savvy lunch “hostess” at the
elementary school. Gone are the days when she used to take tickets,
count them by hand and report the results. Now, she rolls out
the computer cart and greets students as they log their identification
numbers. The count is completed by the time the last eater enters
the line. “I always enjoy seeing the kids, and we have tremendous
dedicated people in our food service. We have people who have
been here for 30-plus years,” Hansen said. “Their
dedication to that food program and service to the kids is just
phenomenal. They truly care about those kids and the products
they put out.” Tough times elevate meals’ value
While Rose Ledden, Sue Smits and Kay Hansen play different roles
in their districts’ food service programs, all agree on
one point -- the meals served with great care at their schools
may be the best shot at nutrition some students get because of
home finances or working parents pressed for time. “I look at the elementary level and that might be the
only good meal those kids get,” said De Pere’s Smits,
who works in the elementary and high school kitchens. “I don’t think they get mashed potatoes at home.
We do soups and sub sandwiches, and lot of hot food and creamy
casseroles. And they say, ‘Oh, my grandma makes this.’
We also do the holiday meals.” Students do learn better after they’ve had good meals,
the women agreed. “So many kids come to school without eating at all,”
Smits said. “Parents are both working, and there is just
no time for the meals.” It is this societal fact – buffeted by an August report
from the U.S. Census Bureau showing poverty in Wisconsin grew
faster than any other state in 2003 and 2004 – that makes
the school nutrition programs even more important today. Propelled by national reports about child obesity and the early
onset of diseases, schools in Wisconsin and nationwide have taken
steps to make nutrition and wellness an integral part of learning.
At the forefront are the food service staffs working to ensure
the food is safe and provides students with the energy to concentrate,
perform and excel at their studies. Healthy kids’ initiatives
At the federal level, the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched
the Healthier U.S. School Challenge to recognize schools acting
to improve nutrition on site. Several months ago, Wisconsin’s
Governor Jim Doyle unveiled his Healthy Kids Initiative that includes
the distribution of an educational nutrition and physical activity
guide for children and their parents. The Department of Public
Instruction is among the agencies distributing the booklet statewide. Doyle also is a big proponent of school breakfast programs.
His 2005-07 state budget plan included $1.3 million to increase
the state’s reimbursement rate for school breakfasts, but
the Republican Legislature stripped that item out of the budget.
In his veto message, the governor said: “While I cannot
fix this omission through my veto pen, I will continue to lead
the fight to ensure that Wisconsin does better in giving every
child the opportunity to start the day with a healthy breakfast.” Fighting poor nutrition habits
State records show that 16% of Wisconsin children are obese –
that’s four times the rate in the 1960s. The extra weight
– attributable largely to poor nutrition habits –
may help trigger diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart and
gall bladder disease. State officials also say about 24% of Wisconsin
high school students are overweight or at the risk of becoming
overweight. A state Department of Public Instruction spokesman said the
agency does not track the number of food service workers in Wisconsin’s
public schools, nor does it mandate federal or state certification
requirements for the workers. Some public school food service managers are pushing to have
all staff certified through programs offered by the local technical
colleges – and stay certified by fulfilling continuing education
requirements. Smits and Ledden are certified. Other districts – including De Soto – have school-created
nutrition teams focusing on ways to improve healthy living and
awareness among students. Federal law requires that every school
in the National School Lunch Program – which includes nearly
every school in Wisconsin – must establish a district wellness
policy by 2006-07. The U.S. Department of Agriculture created
the Team Nutrition concept as an integrated and comprehensive
way to improve the nutrition of the nation’s school children.
Information about Team Nutrition and the state’s efforts
is available on the DPI Web
site. This pending mandate for districts to create wellness regulations
also has prompted some to either pull snack vending and soda machines
altogether or restrict their availability. De Pere school officials made several changes just prior to
the start of this school year, Smits said. For example, soda,
candy and snacks such as potato chips have been removed from vending
machines. Only milk, water or 100% fruit juices along with some
sports drinks are allowed. Sales of soda and other banned drinks
may occur at the school events held after the academic day. Also,
Smits said, the new policies say food sold prior to or during
the school day must be limited to 30% fat or less. “The school board wants everything healthy,” Smits
said, adding the De Pere decision followed a similar action in
Oshkosh. Smits said most of the students understand the action and the
push toward wellness. However, she adds, the policy has not stopped
soda consumption among the students. “The kids are carrying
it in… and selling it,” she said of impromptu student
entrepreneurs. Whether it be pushing to get a breakfast program in place to
taking out the vending machines, food service workers are on the
front lines making sure the food trays of tomorrow’s leaders
are full of the good stuff to build strong bodies and able minds. And it is not as easy as you may think. Rose Ledden: ‘Wonderful smells’
 Rose
Ledden has been feeding the kids of the De Soto Area School District
for 26 years. This is her first year as the head site cook with
the pre-K through grade 5 crowd. Ledden spent her first 25 years
at the high school. She and her fellow head site cooks in the other De Soto schools
must be doing something right since she estimates about 350 of
the district’s roughly 575 students line up for breakfast
and about 550 return for lunch. “We do have a closed campus,” she said. “We’re
way out in the sticks.” Modesty aside, the kids likely would stay anyway since everything
is home-cooked. “We have such a nice program I believe. We are kind of
homey and still do our own baking,” Ledden said. “Wonderful
smells fill the school. “And there is always talk about the buns,” she said
with a laugh.
Sure, she said, it costs a little more to do the home-baked items,
but “this is what they want.” Still, once she thinks she finally has the younger set’s
taste buds figured out, they’ll turn in another direction. Ledden said there are four full-time and three part-time workers
in the district’s food service division. “I do it all,” she said of her duties at the elementary
school. She does have the help of part-time colleague Deb Zink
who assists with serving. Ledden starts her day at 5:30 a.m. After she gets that pot of
coffee going, she peruses the menu and starts breakfast. “By quarter to 8 the children are there!” she said.
She’ll also get going on the lunch. On the day of this
interview, she had baked a few pans of cookies and made barbecue
sauce. “In between, there are the dishes. There are always
dishes,” she said. “It is a full day.” Ledden and her three head cook colleagues plan the district
menus one month at a time. And this year, the De Soto schools’
pop and snack machines are shut off most of the time. Ledden said
the policy is voluntary, but her guess is “it is going to
be mandated. They (officials) are talking about child obesity
and it will come to pass that all types of pop machines will be
off until at least after lunch.” She also is part of the district’s nutrition team which
includes the nurse, cook, school board member and teachers involved
in working to implement more activity and more nutritious snacks.
“We want to make them aware,” she said. “We’re giving them more choices and more relishes
and more fruits. They’re accepting it,” she said.
“It doesn’t have to always be sweet and sweet and
sweet. We are working to get them away from sweets and get them
more into vegetables and into fruits.” Ledden, who is certified and a member of American Food Service
Association, started her district career as a baker. “I
just walked into it,” she said, recalling the ability to
bake was the only qualification. The next year she worked as a cook, then became a head cook
and eventually a director before returning as a head cook for
the grade school. “We’re always trying to improve the school nutrition
program and make nutrition the (priority),” Ledden said,
stressing the ultimate goal is to make a nutritious item that
the kids will eat. “I love it. I love children, and it is a challenge.” Ledden’s daily challenge is to make the program financially
sound. “You don’t want to go into debt because then
the school board gets after you.” There are also special dietary needs among the students. She
deals with lactose intolerance, as well as diabetes and allergies. “We’re small enough and we know everybody’s
name. And the parents work with you, too,” she said, describing
how she keeps track of individual students’ needs. “It’s
kind of like a family really. Everybody knows the parents and
the grandparents.” Safety is always the top priority, so she is constantly checking
temperature and sanitation to make sure everything is tip top. Do you cook at home? “As little as possible… microwaves
are wonderful,” she said with a laugh. Why not? She gets her nutrition at school. Sue Smits: Service with a smile
 Sue
Smits is in her 20th year with the De Pere district – the
last six with the food service department after spending 14 as
a custodian. “It was time for a change,” she said. Smits’ eight-hour day begins at 6:30 a.m. and alternates
between Heritage Elementary and De Pere High School. It also includes
a shift on the playground. At the elementary school, Smits preps the condiment table and
also walks from room to room gathering the lunch counts and payments
by 9 a.m. By the time service starts at 10:30 a.m., she’s
on to the high school. The district does not serve breakfast,
but Smits said the head of her food service division would like
to. “So many kids come to school without eating at all,”
Smits said. And so many kids are coming to De Pere. “We’re growing
like crazy,” she said. Quoting district figures, Smits said
the total De Pere student population is about 3,562. “Eighty-two
percent – or 2,950 – eat lunch,” she said. The district feeds 1,010 K-4 students, 908 middle school (5-8)
students and 1,032 high school students. It’s a good meal deal for either $2 or $2.25, depending
upon the items taken. “There are subs and salads and three
hot entrees,” she said. The high school seniors are staying – and we have an open
campus. Where can they get a meal for $2.25?” De Pere has gotten so big and the lunch program so successful
that the district has had to go to three lunch periods in the
high school. Smits is one of 10 high school kitchen staffers and
nearly 30 districtwide. The program must be self-sufficient, so the De Pere food service
is budget conscious, she said. Smits is not an integral part of the menu planning, but she would
like to be. As in most districts, De Pere officials are very concerned
about the nutritional content of the food served. “We don’t fry anything,” she said, and she
has noticed more and more vegetarians coming through the line.
The next target for elimination may be processed foods, she said. Smits said the district has yet to implement a nutrition-wellness
team, but the topic is taught in the classroom. The best part of her job? “I’m the friendly face
to the kids. That’s the part I like,” Smits said.
“Make them happy and put a smile on their face. It’s
a fun atmosphere.” Kay Hansen: Privatization punch
 Kay
Hansen, the lunch hostess toting a computer, is divided between
2.25 hours with elementary school lunch and five hours in the
media center. Her role in the school grew from volunteering more than two
decades ago. And she has seen plenty of changes. One plus is that
technology makes the lunch counts and record-keeping a breeze.
“I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to
work in the school district for all these years, and made many
wonderful friends,” she said. Denmark had about 1,600 students
in 2003-04. Hansen laments the school district’s decision four years
ago to turn the district’s program over to a private company.
“It is a sad situation,” she said. At first the school
employees were kept on by the private company and things didn’t
change too much. “Now, as our employees are leaving –
retiring and through attrition – they are bringing in the
(company’s) employees.” Gone are a lot of the homemade items, and participation in turn
has taken a hit, Hansen said. Lunch participation has dropped
from 400-450 a day to 300-325. DPI records show Denmark Elementary
had 530 students in 2003-04. The breakfast participation is between
30 and 35. Yet, she said meal time is a happy time at school when kids
look forward to eating, seeing some friends and sharing a laugh
about the day. “And I get my hugs in,” she said. Posted October 7, 2005 |